I used to work out pretty religiously. Then came illness, hospitalization, and surgery. Having your abs sliced up lengthwise really does a number on your ability to lift weights.
Well, today, after seven months of absence, I hit the gym again. Sure, I had to slash all my weights in half and I could only do 20 situps instead of the six sets of 25 I used to do and I had the bench at a lower angle now… but that’s not the point, is it?
Just felt the need to share. In the immortal words of Eric Cartman: Beefcake!
I know what you mean, though. I used to work out constantly until I had to leave school. Then I worked full time, with odd hours, and stopped working out. Eventually, I got back to school and started back up again, and now I’ve got my gym membership back, but the weight has dropped dramatically. It’s some hard work, but it feels good to be sore. It’s like a feeling of…accomplishment…and progress. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t slide back into it. I tried to burn myself completely out the first week back, and succeeded in doing so. In any case, good luck, fella. And it’s also good that you’re working on staying healthy.
I’m going to hopefully start back at the gym tomorrow and will probably feel like a weakling the first day. I always start working out in the fall and then spring break comes and it all over till next fall. I worked in Florida this summer as a helper with a group of masons and toting all the blocks back and forth all day in the sun did keep me in pretty decent shape and I lost ten pounds. Starting back always sucks if the first workout goes badly.
Thanks, you guys reminded me that I have to drop by this gym I located between work and my house. It’s been so hot, I didn’t remember that the “summer hours” are over and the new schedule must be out!
I went from three 90 minute workout sessions a week down to two 30 minute sessions most weeks after the kids were born. I can lift more weight for fewer reps, but my cardio and spinning ability has suffered greatly.
Still, if I go a week without doing anything, I can feel it and the itch to go workout gets pretty persistent.
The foks at the office have a star club…the fastest guy can climb 32 stories in under five minutes. I average nearly twice that (best 8:40, worst 10:40)…I’m telling myself I’m carrying an extra 130 lbs of weight and height around…yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket.
Course, one of the guys did a little research and found the hardcore New York stair climbers could do our stairs in something like 4 minutes. :eek:
I just got back to running after a month of having a really bad cold. Stress, moving, stress, thesis defense, stress, new job, and stress all did a number on my immune system. Like Unintentionally Blank, I definitely get the itch when I’m not getting my workouts. I would have dreams when I was sick that I was out running, and wake up wanting to go run so bad I could taste it—but then a fit of coughing would put that idea to rest fairly quickly.
I’m finally back to a state I would consider “not sick,” and as soon as I had my energy back I got my ass back on the street. The thing I’ve been telling myself is that it’s not important to instantly rocket back up to my previous levels of performance, but to keep getting out. I started out with just a mile a day, but, by god, I did it for six days straight. I’m slowly building my distance back up. My pace, we will not discuss, because it was pretty pitiful before I spent a month hacking up green mucus.
I’m in the same situation. Work exploded and I had to take a month off from serious training. Now, I’m back, and going through DOMS again. Still, it’s nice to be able to go.
I suck at working out. I’ve never been an active person at all (not even as a child - didn’t do any sports in school) and so it’s totally new to me. I went consistently for about a year prior to my wedding, and then just stopped. Took time back from the wedding, then it was Christmas, then it was back to work, but that was totally depressing me because I knew I wanted to move out of Ontario so badly…
Now I’m in Montreal, still looking for a job, and so I have no money to spend on a gym membership and I hate biking (I don’t have a good bike or good balance) and running (I don’t do it well, it’s uncomfortable) so I find I’ve gained weight and I feel even worse about myself.
There is a gym/sports complex just across the street from us, and their yearly membership fees are pretty decent. I think once I land a job and get some finances back in order, I just might sign up and try again. They even have a swimming pool, so although I’m not a great swimmer, I think I can definitely benefit from that.
Also, the job I do involves being on my feet, carrying 2-6kg around (for very short amounts of time) all day, so that alone should be an improvement once I get into a routine. Not to mention that I now have 2 flights of stairs to climb to get to my apartment, rather than the elevator I used to have.
I want to be motivated to exercise. But I’m in the “it’s easier to sit around and do nothing” phase. We’ll see.
What really sucks are rotator cuff injuries.
I tore my right one back in January. Thought I could just “lighten up” on the weights and work through it until it healed. Nope. Damn thing persisted. Always sore, always inflamed, always needed ice.
Not until I quit lifting for 8 weeks (June/July) did it heal properly.
I’m still afraid to push dumbells overhead at the same weight I was for fear of reinjuring it.
I had a rotator cuff muscle pull, I don’t think it was a cuff injury per se, but my normal regimen would not allow it to heal…it wasn’t til I went to resistance bands and some additional PT that it got better.
I’ve been rowing with my team all year, doing the bare minimum required workouts, but nothing else. Then, last month, I was diagnosed with anemia and told to take iron supplements and, amazingly enough, my energy has exploded. I’m now running again and doing to occasional weight session (at this make-shift gym, I’m thinking about joining a full size gym). The anemia thing progressed so gradually, I hadn’t realized how run down I’d gotten. Feels great to want to work out again.
I was a regular 4-5 times a week gym-goer for 3 years or so up until about 2 years ago.
I hate to attribute it to anyting other than my own laziness, but it did come immediately after a friend of mine suddenly passed away. I just lost…something.
Anyway, I started going again 3 weeks ago. The first week I only went 2 days, and they were hard. Not physically really, just emotionally; I wanted to leave, I didn’t feel the commitment, I just barely made it through the motions. The next week I saw the same people I’d always seen there, and it made it a little easier. More routine. This week has been awesome. I feel like it’s a regular thing again. And my mood has improved immensely. Looking forward to more.
Ulcerative colitis led to having to remove my colon. I got stitched up and promptly developed a hole in my small intestine, so they sliced me up again (even bigger incision this time, and the first one was plenty big). This meant that my abs were completely useless for a long time, and they still hurt when I use them sometimes.
Congrats! I’m trying very hard to go regularly to mine during my break from 9-to-5ing, to tone up some muscle groups and keep from letting myself go, but man, is it boring. I don’t mind the work, pain and sweat at all, it’s just boredom that gets me. Can’t afford a trainer either. I just hope I can locate enough engaging music and books to continue to take off the edge. If you have any tips let me know.
Congratulations on starting back at the gym! I’m doing sort of the same thing, too. I had a baby four months ago and have recently begun working out regularly (I figure I had an excuse not to work out for about the first 6-8 weeks, but now it’s just laziness and a perceived lack of time, though that’s definitely at a premium). One of my first purchases after having the little one was a treadmill and I’ve finally gotten so fed up with the size of my body that I’ve managed to drag my sorry self onto it and start running at least a half hour 3 times a week again. Not easy at all (sometimes I find myself running at 10 p.m. or 4 a.m. depending on the little one’s schedule), but I feel much better already, and I hope you do, too Priceguy.
Been there. For a long time I really truly couldn’t work out, but I could have started again some time ago. I just needed to get off my arse.
Oh yes. Today, every muscle in my body feels like jelly and I have that wonderful pain you get from working out (do you Anglos have a word for that?). It’s great.
We just joined the local Y yesterday, and I went for the first time today. I used the elliptical and treadmill. I RAN. Big fat me can RUN. I’m happyyyy!
I do need some toning advice. Do you mind if I use this thread to ask for it? I have belly and under-arm fat (huge weight loss, pregnancy gain, more big weight loss) which I’d like to get rid of. Anyone know what I can do to help the abs and tone up my arms?
