hurleyltd's BodyBlog

Ah, how demoralizing it is to lose the strength I once had. Being at the gym reminds me that if you don’t make working out a lifestyle, it won’t serve you well. Weird thing about this go-round with the gym is that I enjoy doing my cardio. It’s freakishly weird, but I used to do cardio after I worked out and I was always tired from my workouts. Now, thanks to a suggestion from a friend, I do my cardio prior to a workout and I am pumped and full of energy for the treadmill AND I still have a solid workout! I guess forward/different thinking doesn’t hurt as much as one would like to think it does!

I’m currently only working out very lightly simply because I’ve been out of the routine for 2-3 years. Monday my routine looked like this.

Chest -
Flat bench dumbbell presses (3×10) 45 lbs.
Incline bench dumbbell presses (3×10) 35 lbs.
Pec Deck (4×12) 65 lbs.

Biceps -
Standing barbell curls (3×10) 50 lbs. (including the bar. I know, what a weakling!)
Incline dumbbell curls (3×10) 25 lbs.
Cable Hammer curls (3×10) 65 lbs.

15 minutes cardio on the recumbent bike and 15 minutes cardio on a treadmill. This is so frustrating to be this weak, but I have no one to blame but myself. I’m hoping in a months time, I’ll be able to add on the weight and go a little bit harder… who knows?

So, last Monday, which would have been the fifth… I decided to hit the gym after an eight month hiatus… and my ego decided to come along for the haul. I got the gym, stretched, and proceeded to do ten minutes on the recumbent bike, ten minutes on the elliptical (which I HATE!), and 15 minutes on the treadmill. Since I’m fatter than I used to be, I find breaking up the monotomous routine of cardio helps me finish it. Anyways, I headed over to the dumbbell rack, thinking, "eh, I’ve only been out of it for 8 months. I can still do the old weights I used to." BIG mistake. I grabbed an 85 lbs. dumbbell to do seated skullcrushers. The weight was very manageable and very deceiving! I did four sets of twelve with no issues. Awesome! I then went over to the cable pulley machines and did pressdowns with 125 lbs. on the stack. Again, 4X12 with no issues. I felt pretty good, both confidence wise and strength wise, so I hopped on over to the Smith Machine for some close-grip bench presses. I loaded up a it less than I could have, 100 lbs. and did 4X12. "Wow!", I thought…, "all that was easy! Not a problem at all!"

I decided to call it quits at that point simply because I knew that my muscle memory wasn’t what it used to be and if I did anymore, I’d be pushing it. I hopped on the recumbent bike for another 15 minutes and then showered, drank a RTD, and headed to work. All night at work, I was fine. I’m a machinist, so I lift heavy parts all night… anywhere from 25 to 60 lbs of cast iron. Work went by without a hitch and I was feeling very good. My shift ended at 6:00 a.m. and I went home, changed, and hopped in bed. Six hours later I woke up because of INTENSE pains in my triceps! My triceps hurt so bad that I couldn’t even bend my arms in towards my chest without feeling the pain… talk about scary! 

That’s when I realized that even though my strength may have not gone away, my muscle memory and tolerance have… and until I get back into a routine where my muscles are used to being worked in that fashion, I have to go very light at the gym for a month or so… talk about bummer. My triceps didnt start feeling better until that Friday! I massaged them, stretched them, and even rubbed Flexall on them… talk about an ego check! Lol. So, now, armed with this info, I know that I have to go light until my body gets used to actually doing something other than my normal daily routine.

Yeah, so that’s my idiot moment for the year… lol. Ah, I do remember why I fell in love with the gym and working out to begin with. It’s soothing and almost meditative. Nice.

Welcome to the Bodybuilding.com BodyBlogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!