bb1968’s BodyBlog

I have been back to a normal workout routine for the past couple of weeks and am very pleased with the progress thus far.  I remember now why I always regretted starting and stopping workouts….THE PAIN of that first workout back is incredible.  After my first leg workout, which was definitely not a "heavy" workout (front squats and wide stance squats were performed with the BAR ONLY for 3 sets of 15 each), my legs killed me for an entire week.  They hurt to touch them let alone squat down on the commode!  OUCH!  Hopefully this will never have to be repeated barring anymore injuries.  I hope to get the strength back up fairly quickly BUT safely.  My second leg workout I went up to 135 on regular squats for 1 set of 10 reps and had no problems with the low back.  THAT made me feel really good!  I did the bar only front and wide stance squats again for 3 sets of 15 each.  I did one drop set on the leg extensions for my final exercise of the workout and that was on Tuesday and the legs feel much better than they did last week.  No soreness to the touch anyway, but I can tell that I did get a good workout in when I walk up steps.  Not very impressive weights were lifted but one thing I have learned the hard way is the ego WILL get you hurt!  When ego is the dominant factor pushing a workout, form goes out the window and that is when injuries happen.  I plan to concentrate on perfect form with slower rep speed rather than higher weight and poor form.  I want to feel the muscle working.  And the last two leg workouts I definitley had the mind to muscle connection.  The calves are killing me as well.  I am just happy to be back to a normal workout routine with no pending surgeries.  I FEEL GOOD, just like I knew that I would! - as James Brown says! 

OTHER HAPPENINGS:

I am enrolled in the National Strength and Conditioning Association Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT) program and I am scheduled to take my exam Feb. 2, 2008 in Baltimore, MD.  I have my Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED course tomorrow, Saturday Dec. 8.  The one area of the exam I am probably going to have a hard time with is the anatomy and all its technical functions.  I have always been intrigued by the body and I am looking forward to learning more about it.  Especially after going through the surgeries this past year and seeing how the nerves affect the muscles.  I have read about things like VO2 max but never fully understood it so this will definitely be a learning experience.  That excites me!  This is the best way I can find to utilize the time I have while being laid off from work.  For those of you who don’t know I was laid off from my job of 4 years on Nov. 2.  The thing about it was, I went to my boss in the middle of Oct. to tell him I was going to need a few weeks off for my back surgery on Oct. 26 and two days later he comes to me and informs me they were going to lay me off effective Nov. 2.  That was perfectly alright with me.  Unemployment is much more than what short term disability was when I had my neck surgery. 

Anymore I try to find the positives in all areas rather than dwell upon the negatives.  Prior to Jan. 3, 2005, I would let the negatives (like being laid off) destroy my hopes and dreams and become a "Victim" of circumstance and get drunk.  That is why drugs and alcohol almost destroyed my life.  But as Joel Osteen says, "You’re not a victim you’re a VICTOR!"  I embrace that saying with all my heart.  God doesn’t make junk and I refuse to think that I was made by mistake.  I started this positive journey and I will finish it in Victory, with God’s help!  I appreciate all of you who send me kind comments and positive reinforcement and I hope to help others by doing the same.  If any of you ever need help with anything, private message me or email me bb7291968@yahoo.com and I will do what I can.

That’s about it for now.  Time to get my thinking cap on and hit the books.  Feb. 2 will be here before I know it.  God bless you all and I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!  Keep the Christ in Christmas!  Jesus is the reason for the season!

I finally got to get a leg workout in after 10 weeks and 4 days since the onset of my back problem that required surgery.  I had to go really light but hey, at least I got to finally stimulate the muscles with SOMETHING other than walking.  It is going to be another long road to regaining strength and size but IT WILL HAPPEN!  I am determined to make a bigger and better comeback than the return after my neck surgery.  I am thinking it will probably be smart to wait to compete until 2009.  That way I can do this the smart way and not push myself too hard.  I KNOW me and I will kill myself trying to get the size back too soon and possibly cause more problems.  Building size takes time especially when there is nerve damage involved.  I really felt the weakness in my right leg today during the workout.  The left leg was really trying to overpower the right.  I really had to concentrate and focus on the right leg.  This was the same experience I had with my left arm from the nerve damage with the herniated disc in my neck.  After almost 8 months since that surgery, I am finally making some good progress with regaining my strength in my left arm.  Still not where I was before, but I have made significant progress and that has taken 8 months.

Time is on my side, yes it is!

There is not much time to workout when you have to work 10-12 hours a day along with an hour commute both ways.  I was laid off from work and went to the unemployment office on Monday to file for unemployment and they offered me a job that was only for three weeks but it is 7 days a week and long hours.  We are actually suppose to finish the job by next Saturday, a week ahead of schedule.  I am really worn out after this week and I only got to workout on Monday. 

On a positive note, the back is feeling really well after doing work all week that required bending over and lifting constantly.  That has me pumped to get back to lifting again.  I have my 2 week follow up appointment with the surgeon on next Wednesday.  Hopefully he will give me the okay to go back to lifting.  Thankfully I went into the surgery being in good shape and that has helped with the speedy recovery.  I don’t even feel like I had surgery!  Thanks to all my friends on here for your prayers and support.  Hope you all have a great weekend.  Think of me while you’re relaxing tomorrow watching football or whatever while I am slaving away LOL!

It has been 7 days now since my surgery and I am very pleased to announce that I feel really GREAT!  I haven’t had any pain meds for 3 days.  The incision area is still a little swollen so I have been taking ibuprofen for the inflammation.  I started walking to help the rehab as instructed by the doc.  Last night was the first time I really pushed myself to the level I was at during my contest prep (12% incline @ 3.2mph) and I feel absolutely GREAT today.  I can’t wait to start some lifting again.  I will try my best to give it another week but I seriously doubt I will make it.  I am just going to listen to my body and do what I did during my neck surgery rehab which was keep it light at first and discontinue if it hurts.  I am thinking about trying the bike this weekend if the weather permits.  If it bothers me, I may rent a recumbent and see how that feels.  Not much time left to enjoy the outdoors and I would like to take advantage while I still can.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  God bless and take care.

It has now been 24 hours since my back surgery and I am very pleased to say that I feel really great!  Everything went very well and I would like to thank all my friends on here for their prayers and support.  Most of all I would like to thank God for His guidance through it all.  I am looking forward to a speedy recovery and hopefully back to some light workouts in a couple of weeks.  I am anticipating the 2 week window because that was when I started doing some light workouts after my neck sugery.  Once again I will be paying close attention to my body and not overdoing it.  It was suggested by the doctor that I begin walking as soon as possible to help in the healing process.  I plan on going to the gym tomorrow and getting on the treadmill. 

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and I will keep the updates coming as I progress on the road to recovery!  God bless you all.

I am about 8 hours from the scheduled surgery on my lower back to remove a piece of herniated disc that is pinching a nerve and causing pain down my right leg.  I am so ready for the recovery to begin.  After the success I had with my neck surgery (thanks to the Good Man upstairs) I have no reservations about this surgery. 

I would like to thank all of my friends on here for their support, well wishes and prayers.  Bodyspace has really helped me to keep my focus on the long run.  Afterall, bodybuilding is a "Super-duper Marathon" not a hundred yard dash.  It takes time to build the body of your dreams.  It doesn’t happen over night as those of you who have been in this for a while can attest to.  Sometimes setbacks come as is with this surgery I am having.  But when you fall down you get back up, dust yourself off and continue on the race.  Quitters never win and winners never quit.  A true champion couldn’t be a champion without character and character can only be developed by facing and overcoming adversity.  I keep telling myself that things happen for a reason.  The reason I believe this "trial" has happened to me was because I was so ready to start lifting some heavy duty weight to put on some mass and my neck was not healed enough to be able to handle the load.  I haven’t even attempted any deadlifts since my neck surgery and I blew this disc out with 135 lbs on the bar doing my warmups for squats a week before my last competition.  When you’re not ready for something, the Good Man upstairs has a way of giving you a sign to let you know.  Unfortunately my sign requires another surgery.

Gotta go and try to get a little sleep before I get cut open.  I will post an update once I am feeling better, hopefully by Saturday.  Keep me in your prayers.  God bless you all for stopping by to read my rambling.  Good night!

The doc’s office got me in a little earlier than anticipated for my initial consultation regarding the MRI results on my low back.  Surgery has been scheduled for next Friday, Oct. 26.  I am having a microdiscectomy to remove a piece of the disc that herniated and caused the pinched nerve.  It sounds like a much more simple procedure than the neck surgery I had in April.  It is only suppose to take a couple of hours and is performed on an outpatient basis.  I should only be off work for 2 weeks.  However, I won’t be able to do any squats or deadlifts for 8 weeks.  My goal is to get the vasectomy done during the 2 weeks off work as well.  That way all the surgeries will be done and I can start to recover and hope and pray that nothing else goes wrong. 

So as it looks, January will be the start of a serious mass program.  I feel that my legs are really getting small due to the inability to stimulate the muscles.  The upper body seems to be getting a lot stronger especially on the left side which had the nerve damage.  My chest and tricep workouts have seen some significant gains in poundages so I am very happy to see that progress.  It all just goes in line with the rest of my life and Murphy’s law….if something could go wrong, it will happen to me!  It always seems to be something.  Better luck in 2008 hopefully!  I will post another update after the surgery.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read my rambling.  Keep me in your prayers and God bless each of you.  

It was a beautiful day in Wild Wonderful West Virginia today!  I got to go on a bike ride finally (first time back on the bike since the onset of the low back injury 4 weeks ago today).  The weather was absolutely gorgeous for riding.  I actually thought that the fall colors were going to be better than they were.  I took a ride on the C&O Canal (actually just across the Potomac river from WV in Maryland) and I went on a section closer to Hagerstown, MD.  I usually go west from Hancock, MD because it is just a little more scenic and secluded.  The fall colors around my house are pretty much into full effect but where I was today (maybe 30 miles east) looked like the heart of springtime…green as could be!  So next weekend I plan on heading west to take in some real scenery. 

I was very pleased to see that the leg and back didn’t bother me much at all.  I wouldn’t have wanted to be riding any hills though.  I could still feel a severe weakness in my right leg.  While I was home this evening, laying on the couch watching a movie, I noticed that the front of my shin on my right leg was cold to the touch and it was numb as well.  After seeing the info I googled up on the L3-4 hernitated disc, these symptoms go right in line with the reports I read.  TOTALLY WEIRD feeling!  The calf area was warm and the shin was cold.  Probably nerve damage, I am guessing.

Life is good no matter what kind of difficulties you face each day.  Adversity builds character and sometimes will bring out what kind of character you have built.  Somewhere, somebody has it worse off than yourself.  Sometimes you just have to look back into your past at a horrible situation you came through and be thankful that your not in that predicament anymore.  And sometimes you just have to ask God, "Please help me through this Lord!"  LIFE IS GOOD TODAY!

I got a letter today from my primary care physician informing of the MRI report which states, "There appears to be a large disc herniation at L3-4 extending superiorly from the disc space on the right with likely impingement upon the descending right L3 and lower nerve roots." 

After googling the above info., the symptoms go right in line with what I have been experiencing.  Looks like I will be having surgery to fix it. 

The initial vasectomy consultation is Friday.  If I could get all these surgeries out of the way this year, maybe I will have a good shot at making some progress with my training come next year.  Three surgeries (2 major) in one year and in all the other 38 years of my life I managed just one.  And that was my stupid fault for being careless with a skill saw!  It sometimes has me thinking that the old Devil is trying to discourage me and get me back to drinking.  I refuse to quit!  Come hell or highwater nothing is going to stop me from having success this time around.  I fought with the devil for too long with my drinking and I have been sober for almost 3 years now.  All I can say is, "Bring it on!"  I could lose my legs and I will just enter the wheelchair bodybuilding comps! 

Arnold said it best, "I’ll be back!"

I hit the back for the first time since the onset of the injury.  My back really feels good and the pain shooting down my leg has actually subsided to the point where I don’t need the Percoset for pain (Thank God for that- I don’t like taking meds especially narcotics).  I only did 3 sets of the following: Bent-over barbell rows, Seated cable rows, Wide-grip pulldowns behind the neck, and Barbell shrugs.  Didn’t go too heavy except for shrugs (it was the heaviest I have been since my neck surgery anyway).  Just wanted to get a feel for how my back was going to hold up.  I was very happy to say the least.  I am still going on the 22nd to the specialist to see what is actually causing these flare-ups.  I have had them for most of my adult life.  They are always a minor setback and in a week or two I am usually back to normal.  I still haven’t tried any kind of leg workout nor have I got out to ride the bike yet.  I am shooting for a bike ride next weekend.  I love to be out on the bike this time of the year and see all the fall foliage.

It is back to chest today.  Going to try this workout scheme (3 days on 1 off and repeat) for a while.  That way I am hitting each body part (except legs for now) three times in two weeks.  I gotta get my chest and tricep strength back in my left arm.  When I can go back to doing legs, I plan on hitting them twice a week and I will have to adjust everything else accordingly.

So that is it for blogging on my workouts for now.  Time to go to work…training that is!