Joe’s BodyBlog

So here is the deal, I haven’t posted my workout becuase I was so excited about getting to use weights, I think I over trained my leg. Not too bad, but man did I make myself sore. I am giving myself 4 days of rest to redesign my leg program. I should be ok.

Now here is the sobering part. I measured my quads, right above my knee just like the PT did.

Left Leg (Operation) is 17.75 inches.   Right Leg 18.50 inches. 3/4 of an inch in difference!
I am going to take picutres and measurements every couple of weeks to see how long it will take me to get my legs close to the same size again.

Today is indeed a wonderful day. As I said in my last blog I thought things would change in regards to my recovery after I saw my surgeon and they have. He has cleared me for lifting again and I am so pumped! He wants me to stick with machines for the next 6 weeks becuase my quad is still under developed and he wants me to keep myself in a safe range of motion under very controlled lifts. I know I can do this with free weights as well, but I think I am going to stick with the machines for the next 6 weeks to give my body it’s proper time to heal. He told me that after 6 weeks of consistent lifting and working my legs 2-3 per week, I should see a huge difference and then will feel confident enough to move on to free weights. I have to agree, my confidence is not there, so I am going to do as I am told.

I am going to take this weekend and figure out my routine and I will post it on Monday. I feel like some chains have been lifted off of me! I am very excited!

Wow I have been lame at blogging, but at least I am doing my workouts which is good.

Here is the deal - I have had to create a split routine to manage my therapy and workouts.
My PT is set on a schedule of every other day. So on off PT days I workout the rest of my body as best I can.

I am trying to add cardio so I can lose fat, but at this point my stamina is pretty low, so just getting my workouts in is enough .

Workouts:

Day 1 - PT

5 minutes backwards on treadmill - 8 incline, 1.8 to 2 MPH
5 minutes forwards on treadmill - same as above

3 X 30 Step ups (Aerobic Step, 3 Steps high which I think is 8-10 inches)
3 X 10 Single Leg step downs Left Leg (bad one))
3 X 10 Wall Squats with Stability Ball
Single Leg Stands - 30 seconds each on half moon stability thingy (sorry can’t remeber what it is called.)
Single leg calf raises
3 X 10 Hamstring bridges
3 X 10 Hamstring extensions with rubber band

Day 2 workout A:

Chest/Triceps/Shoulders
Chest:
Bench
Warmup 1 set 15 130lbs
3 X 5 145 lbs
Incline Bench
Warmup 1 set 65 lbs
3 x 5 85 lbs
Flys
3 X 25 lbs

Tricpes
Pushdowns
Warm up 1 set X 15X 40 lbs
3 X 5 60 lbs
Dips
3 x 15 Bodyweight

Shoulders
Lateral rasies
Warm up Set 1 x 15 60 lbs
3 x 5 90 lbs

External rotation
Warm Up Set 1 x 40 lbs
3 x 55 lbs

Light Cardio - Elliptical for 10 - 15 minutes

Day 2 Workout B
Back/Biceps/Forearms

Back
Low Rows (Machine)
Warmup 1 set x 15 75 lbs
3 X 5 90 lbs

Inverse Bench pull ups (not sure of the name of this, lying on the floor under a smith machine bar, pull my chest to the bar)
3 sets as many as I can do each set. I do these because I can’t do even 1 pull up and I haven’t been to good at doing negatives.

Wide Grip Pulldowns
Warm up Set 1 x 15 x 80 lbs
3 x 5 x 09 lbs

Biceps
Barbell Curl
Warm up set 1 x 15 x 40 lbs
3 X 5 X 60 lbs

Alternating Incline Dumbbell Curl with twist
3 X 5 X 25 lbs

Forearms
Wrist curls
3 x 20 x 20 lbs

Inverse Wrist curls
3 x 20 x 20 lbs

Light Cardio - Elliptical for 10 - 15 minutes

This will probably change at the end of this week, when I go back to the Surgeon for my 4 month follow up. I am no where near 100 percent, but I might be released to start using weights with my knee rehab, but I won’t know until Friday.

My Diet - The good news
I have been eating very clean and have noticed a huge difference in how I feel. I dropped sugar from my coffee, which wasn’t such a big deal. It was the only place I added sugar to my diet. What got me to finally do it was reading an article (probably for the 5th time) about how sugar prevents your body from matabolizing fat. For some reason it finally sunk in.

With these changes I have lost two pounds!