Building blocks

[Legacy]

building block [noun]: A basic unit from which something is built up.

In January I had a chest reconstruction so this journal will start off with some rehab work. Hopefully, i'll be able to lift weights properly in the next few months and regain my strength.
After the surgery, I was down to 69 kg. For someone of my height, this is quite underweight. I'm back up to 72, which is healthier, but far from my goal weight of... 92 kg (lean).

As I have not been able to lift weights, I see no point in eating an excess of calories as this would only lead to fat storage. Do you think rehab work along with a slight excess of calories would be a bad idea?

Stats:

• Age: 19
• Height: 6'4"
• Weight: 72 kg
• Lifting Stats: Who knows? We'll find out.
• Goal Weight: 92 kg

Keeping a journal will let me know if i'm slacking off.
Feel free to share any tips or criticisms with me.

- Legacy

[Legacy]

This is what i'm working with:

[Legacy]

16/05/2012 11:45AM
700m swim in a 50m pool (approx 20 minutes).
50m of this was freestyle, the remainder was breaststroke.

Breaststroke no longer causes me any pain. When doing freestyle, breathing is heavy and there is slight pain as I rotate my ribcage.
This is no excuse for only swimming 700m, I was lazy and should have swam at least 1.5km (I cannot lift yet, so I might aswell get fit).

As far as swimming goes, I aim to reach 2km in 40 minutes.

[Legacy]

18/05/2012 1:13PM
1300m swim in a 50m pool (approx 35 minutes)
100m freestyle (4 x 25m) the remainder breaststroke.

Not a bad swim. Freestyle still hurts but I was able to push through that pain a little. At this stage in my recovery I dont think I can injure myself swimming so I just need to accept this pain in order to get anywhere.

[Legacy]

20/05/2012 5:40PM
Light weights session.

Incline press
22 x 15
22 x 15
22 x 15

Overhead press
22 x 12
22 x 12

Row
22 x 10

DB Curl
27.5 x 8

This was not a proper workout; my intention was to see where i'm at in terms of form. It would be foolish to add load to the bar if I cannot perform the exercise properly with the bar alone.
I am flexible enough to press quite well. My left serratus is quite tight, particularly at the start of the concentric movement. Lifting slower did not help. I think i'll have to put up with this.

I might write up a weekly workout routine, high-rep low weight to begin with. Injury is a fair possibility, so i'll progress slowly to try and weed out any problems at an early stage.
Everything feels bizarre so it will take some time to be confident with lifting.

- Legacy

[mattbju2013]

Hey man.. great to hear your doing better.. keep it up!

[Legacy]

Thanks Matt.

22/05/2012 1:40 PM
1500m swim in a 50m pool (approx 40 minutes)
125m freestyle (2 x 50m and 1 x 25m) the remainder breaststroke.

Freestyle is still exhausting. I keep having thoughts of someone finding my body in the deep end so i'm not really confident with it yet.

Primary goal - increase number of freestyle laps.
Secondary goal - 2km in 40 minutes. This should follow the primary goal.

I might head into the gym today and experiment around with different equipment.

[Legacy]

24/05/2012 3:30PM
Push

Bench press
45 x 10
45 x 10
55 x 10
55 x 10
60.5 x 8
60.5 x 8

Squat
45 x 10
88 x 10
88 x 10
88 x 10

Military Press
27.5 x 10
33 x 10
38.5 x 8

I tried to do some assisted dips but there was too much pain. I guess it squeeze's the ribcage together quite tight.

Notes for next time:

• Stretch my legs out before squatting.
• Don't drop the bar down too low with the military press.
• When benching, do not rest or bounce weight on the chest.
• Temporarily, use an exercise other than dips to train triceps.

Again, I was intentionally lifting below what I could have to try and ease back into things. The squat actually felt pretty good - I didn't feel any pain so I guess that means my spine is doing its job

- Legacy

[Legacy]

DOMS, it's been too long

[Legacy]

The DOMS was pretty full on, lasted about 3-4 days.

27/05/2012 5PM
A quick swim, 200m freestyle.
The most freestyle I could swim.

30/05/2012 11:30AM
300m freestyle.

Although neither of these were long swims, due to the difficulty breathing I was actually a bit dizzy afterwards. I did manage to improve by 50% in a matter of 3 days though.

- Legacy