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Fitness |OT9|...You looked better before

mdsfx

Member
Apparently indoor triathlons are a thing. I had no idea. Seems kind of strange, but what else can you do in the off-season?
 

CoolOff

Member
Hi FitGAF! I just moved into a new place with a fairly well equipped gym in the basement, and I figured I'd make use of it. However, I have some specific health things that I have to work around, so I'm turning to you for advice/comments instead of just grabbing one of the starter programs. Long post incoming...

15 months ago, I removed a pilonidal cyst in my upper butt area. The surgeons decided on an open-wound surgery to be left to granulate. They had to remove quite a bit of tissue, so it didn't fully close until March. Since then it has re-opened a few times since the location naturally isn't ideal for thin newly formed skin. This is still an issue.

In addition to this, 2 months after the surgery I got severe sepsis because of the first procedure and healing process. I spent 10 days in the hospital with 3 hip surgeries cleaning up the infection. It had completely destroyed 2/5 muscles in the lateral rotator group on my left side, so they're gone now (Gemellus inferior + superior). I lost about 15+ pounds during the hospital stay on an already fairly skinny dude, so last fall was spent learning to walk again.

These two in combination means that I currently completely rule out:

* Any type of lunges or moves the regularly results in me splitting legs aggressively.
* Exercises that put regular pressure on tailbone area, such as sit-ups. Flat on my back is okay though.
* I'm wary of squats, but they should be okay.

Age: Nearly 25.
Height: 6ft
Weight: 140lbs. Before illness I was maybe up to 145, went down to 130 during it, and have gotten back to "normal lazy weight".
Goal: Gaining mass. Ideally I'd want to be around 70kg = 155lbs, but that's long term. First of all it's about activating my entire body again since it will be so easy for me to go down to the gym.
Current Training Schedule: Rehab for the hip which involves various activation exercises with a fairly light ankle weight.
Current Training Equipment Available: "Fully" equipped gym. Lots of machines I have no idea what they do, but this also means that some specific stuff I know nothing about might be missing. Fairly decent selection of free weights from what I can tell.
Comments: I'm going to a have a lot of free time to focus on this, but I guess I should take it easy in the beginning. I can easily do 4+ sessions a week though and as long as I keep the weights within my limits it's coming down to recovery time, right? Is every other day too often in the beginning?

Thanks in advance!
 

CoolOff

Member
Geez, I don't know man, you should probably get expert medical advice.

About the wound? Eh, there's really nothing specific to be done aside from me seeing a nurse when it happens. To clarify; "opening up" means that
a small spot of subcutaneous tissue breaks through the skin because it hasn't built up enough yet
combined with me stressing the area. This will become rarer and rarer, but I don't want to push it with lunges for example.

Stability in the hip is alright, and something that will become even better with full body activation (balance etc.)
 
06eQyiP

Fitgaf, I got married Friday. Here's the result of y'all supporting me enough not to have sausage arms! :D
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
Some of you might be able to help me out.

I added sets of preacher curls to my routine a month or two ago, but it seems like it's messing up my left forearm. I use the EZ-curl bar with around of 75-80lbs of weight in total.

Whenever i'm done with the set, and I take the weight down and release my grip I get this immediate shooting pain in the medial side of my left forearm. The pain never really went away for a few weeks now and whenever I apply pressure to the spot on my arm it hurts.

I first figured I could just lift through it, thinking it was just muscle soreness but now i'm wondering i'm doing something wrong in terms of form or whether I should be strengthening my forearms first. It kind of feels like i'm having shin splints in my forearms.

Anyone experience something similar?
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
Too much weight for curls. Use 40-50 and go slow on the negative, like 4-5 second negatives.

Hmm, never figured I was putting on excessive weight, seeing as the pain in my forearm is currently the most limiting factor.
But thanks, I will give it a shot tomorrow while focusing on getting max RoM.

I see plenty of people curling a LOT heavier than I do though, but then again some of them do look like cartoon characters with biceps the size of tree trunks. So I guess i'll tone it down a bit.
 
I see plenty of people curling a LOT heavier than I do though,
They are most likely using other muscles in addition to their arms to do it. Which is pointless, because those muscles are not getting enough work from that. If the point is to build your biceps, those muscles are small and so you have to do reps, and that means not so much weight and more focus on isolating those muscles.
 

TheFlow

Banned
Hmm, never figured I was putting on excessive weight, seeing as the pain in my forearm is currently the most limiting factor.
But thanks, I will give it a shot tomorrow while focusing on getting max RoM.

I see plenty of people curling a LOT heavier than I do though, but then again some of them do look like cartoon characters with biceps the size of tree trunks. So I guess i'll tone it down a bit.

everyone is different. when you start comparing yourself to others in the gym its nothing but downhill.
 
Some of you might be able to help me out.

I added sets of preacher curls to my routine a month or two ago, but it seems like it's messing up my left forearm. I use the EZ-curl bar with around of 75-80lbs of weight in total.

Whenever i'm done with the set, and I take the weight down and release my grip I get this immediate shooting pain in the medial side of my left forearm. The pain never really went away for a few weeks now and whenever I apply pressure to the spot on my arm it hurts.

I first figured I could just lift through it, thinking it was just muscle soreness but now i'm wondering i'm doing something wrong in terms of form or whether I should be strengthening my forearms first. It kind of feels like i'm having shin splints in my forearms.

Anyone experience something similar?
Do your pinky and ring finger get numb occasionally along with the same side of your palm? As if you drew a line from your fingers straight to your elbow along the medial side. If so, that's cubital tunnel.

Before it turns into golfers or tennis elbow, as others have said, drop the weight.

Also work on your grip as you may be putting more stress on the medial side using an EZ curl bar due to its shape. Focus the grip evenly across your fingers and palm and use a straight bar or dumbbells and keep your palms level, not angled. This will also focus the bicep more. Try squeezing the bicep with one arm and your wrist at a 45, feel your bicep with your other arm, now keep squeezing and rotate your palm so it is flat facing upwards and see how your bicep reacts - it will contract tighter.

Last, stretch the forearms. A lot of forearm and elbow problems are a result from lack of elasticity in the forearm muscles. You are always activating them to grip stuff but how often do people really give their forearms a good stretch? You can use a screwdriver with a round shaft and DRAG the blade across any tight muscle areas to help break up scar tissue along the length of the forearm. This also helps stretch the forearm muscles. Drag it across perpendicular so you make a T with your arm and the screwdriver. Anything that's strong will work. Don't roll, drag. I have tennis elbow in both arms and haven't had them flare up in months no matter what I do ever since I started giving my forearms a proper stretch and drag stretches using a screwdriver with a round shaft.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
everyone is different. when you start comparing yourself to others in the gym its nothing but downhill.

True that. Thanks for the advice people.

Jacksinthe, I don't have any issues of numbness or tingling sensations. I'm pretty sure they are merely forearm splints. I'll get to work on my technique and drop down the weight.
I might switch to dumbbells instead as well as I think the EZ-curl bar angle is making things worse.
 

Navi

Member
Guys shoot me your Instagram to follow. I'll start posting more here but honestly I'm big into IG lol.


I'm @Ninetales. Just comment or DM and I got you.
 

mdsfx

Member
Guys shoot me your Instagram to follow. I'll start posting more here but honestly I'm big into IG lol.


I'm @Ninetales. Just comment or DM and I got you.

I don't use my IG super often, but I sent you a follow request. I'm cardio_addict.

Actually the true cardio addict is Psycho, but he's on another level so I just pretend he doesn't exist.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I'm this far away from making my daily diet consist purely of bacon, jalapeno scrambled eggs, and tortillas.
Tortilla wraps make up about 90% of my breakfast and lunch choices. I like to mix it up though with eggs, black beans, chicken breast, hummus, roasted red peppers, grilled veg, green chili's, cheese, grilled fish etc. The tortillas I use are only 50 calories so it's pretty much free bread.
 

Ixian

Member
Made the switch from Stronglifts to Greyskull LP this week. I was planning on waiting till I started bulking next month to switch programs but squatting every session was killing me. So far I'm liking it, especially the "as many reps as possible" aspect of the last set, though after doing SL for so long moving to another program feels a bit like cheating on a loved one to me. Planning on doing GSLP until I feel better about my upper body lifts and then switching to a more intermediate program.

I also had a moment of weakness and ate like half a bag of peanut butter pretzels on Monday. The stomach pain Monday night through till last night was real, lol. Definitely going to be careful about ramping up my calories when I transition to my bulk so I don't explode my stomach. XD

I turn 44 on Thursday, thus the spare tire issues. I don't know, it might be loose skin, but I've weighed 200-ish for over a year now. Went down to 190, bulked to 205, back down to 195. Got a hydrostatic weighing in a couple of weeks to see exactly where I'm at.

Taking the shot in front of the kiddie desk makes me look huge though.
I hope I can look that good at that age! Good work man.
 

SunnyVi

Member
What are some foods that are easy to make to help gain weight/muscle? I've googled a few items but I'm looking for more suggestions. It seems I'm eating mainly the same few things every day with some exceptions in-between. Need some variety!
 
Anyone have any suggestions on where I need to gain mobility to be able to do an overhead squat? I tried the other day with an empty barbell and pretty much spiked it into the ground in front of me and fell on my ass. Trying again with nothing in my hands at home my arms end up coming forward when I'm all the way in the hole. Luckily no falling though.

I guess it must be my back/shoulders, just not sure where exactly.
 

Chocobro

Member
Anyone have any suggestions on where I need to gain mobility to be able to do an overhead squat? I tried the other day with an empty barbell and pretty much spiked it into the ground in front of me and fell on my ass. Trying again with nothing in my hands at home my arms end up coming forward when I'm all the way in the hole. Luckily no falling though.

I guess it must be my back/shoulders, just not sure where exactly.
Shoulder mobility. Thoracic spine mobility. Tight pecs can also affect OH mobility.
That's assuming you already have the mobility to do the high bar BSQ without a problem.
 

Eklipsis

Member
IG @King_Coopr

Followed those who posted. Trying to get back in the swing of things and really need to lose some weight that I've gained from new meds and bad eating habits.
 
Anyone have any suggestions on where I need to gain mobility to be able to do an overhead squat? I tried the other day with an empty barbell and pretty much spiked it into the ground in front of me and fell on my ass. Trying again with nothing in my hands at home my arms end up coming forward when I'm all the way in the hole. Luckily no falling though.

I guess it must be my back/shoulders, just not sure where exactly.

I actually came to ask this exact same question.

Any tips on improving shoulder mobility?
 
Im not big into weights, ive always been more into BW exercises and HIIT stuff, so i know this is pathetic to most of you guys, but with the small amount of lifting ive added to my routine, i finally deadlifted more than my own BW last night for the first time. Feels good man :D
 
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