Rex's Weekly Weight Training and Exercise Log Post Surgery

[trexlee001]

Alright, I said I was going to start keeping a training and Diet Log so I will just that in this thread. Basically, I will just post my workouts and what I ate that day (I’m not going to post all of my food for the days I don’t work out.. I simply don’t have time.)

First I will give a little back story along with some pictures like I originally promised. I played Football through College as a defensive lineman. I have always been a “big” guy. I competed in the heavyweight class and sometimes even the super heavies (which is 308lbs +). I was always able to offset that big ol belly with activity and weight training. I competed for over a decade in powerlifting and in my early thirties started competing professionally at Strongman. There is absolutely no money in Strongman or Powerlifting for anyone that might be curious. Other than the top 3-5 guys in the world you have to work a full time regular job to pay the bills. Typically a “professional” strength athlete is happy if he wins enough money to cover his travel and competition costs.. I know I was.

Anyway, In my middle 30’s life, kids, injuries and father time happened and the amount of time I spent in the gym drastically decreased. In the last couple of years my drive to train and hit the gym regularly completely went out the window. Pretty soon one or two workouts a week became one or two workouts a month followed by one or two workouts a year. My weight stayed the same but my waist line increased and my muscle mass went down. I was still eating the same but wasn't workout out at all.

So In May of this year I woke up and I simply couldn’t see very well. It kind of worried me a little but once or twice this had actually happened to me before. From those prior experiences I suspected that I might be pre-diabetic. I thought, I won’t eat any carbs today or tomorrow and I’ll be fine, it’s worked before, it will work now. Well a couple of days went by and my vision actually got worse despite the fact that I hadn’t eaten any carbohydrates. This started to worry me a lot more. I was also extremely thirsty and I was going to the bathroom all the time. I let a couple more days go by and when I finally got to the point that anything beyond 10 feet was too blurry to make out I decided I had better get myself to the Dr.

When I showed up at the clinic I talked to the doctor and explained my symptoms. I told him that I thought it might be my blood sugar and asked for a blood test. He had the nurse give me one and when it came back, my blood sugar was 404 (and this was after a week of eating almost no carbohydrates) and my A1C was 10.8 Even at this point I was still in denial. I said “So does this mean I’m pre-diabetic?” He shook his head and said “No, this means you are full on diabetic and your blood sugar is dangerously high”. We discussed what this meant for me and we discussed my vision. He couldn’t give me an answer on whether or not he thought my vision issues were permanent but he prescribed me medication. I was scared. I was devastated. I couldn’t believe this had happened to me. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. Sorry enough for myself to pull into a chili dog joint and order one with the works and French fries.

As I sat there eating I wondered how I had let this happen to myself. How was it that I was having to deal with all of this at 39 years of age. I had been an athlete in college and beyond. I wasn't in that bad of shape was I? Was I really that bad? And the answer when I looked at it honestly was "yes".. I was that bad. It was then that I decided to do something about it.. Well, right after I ate that Chili dog I was going to do something about it.. lol. I don’t mean for this to come off like I had had some sort of an epiphany. Like all fat people I knew I was fat. I knew I had health problems. Hell, I was on two medications for High Blood pressure. I was on a medication for High Cholesterol. I had been diagnosed with sleep apnea but refused to use a c pap machine. I took medication for horrible acid reflux and now I was adding in a type II diabetes medication. I wasn’t even 40 years old and I weighed 300lbs with a 46” waist and was on all of these medications. And I was scared of losing my eyes.. losing a foot down the road.. So I said no more. I will change.. right after I finish eating this chili dog I will change

Well, long story wrapping up I started doing research. Found out about this procedure and worked out a plan with my Surgeon and my insurance to make something happen.

I had the surgery 5 weeks ago and have had some pretty good success so far. I’ve lost 35lbs and I’m down 4 inches off of my waist. I’ve decided to re-focus myself and get back in shape (one that isn’t round).

So I will be doing my best to post my workouts here and give an idea of what I’m putting into my body food wise and we’ll see the results together. For good or bad you’ll get to see what’s working for me and what’s not. I’ll be the guinea pig so to speak

[trexlee001]

11/30/2014

Shoulders and Traps

Seated Machine Military Press
3x15,12,10
75lbs, 85lbs, 100lbs

Standing Barbell Overhead Barbell Press
3X10,8,8
95lbs -

Upright Rows with EZ Curl Bar
3X10
75lbs, 85lbs, 85lbs

Barbell Shruggs
5X15
135lbs, 185lbs -

Lateral Raises
3X10,8,8
25lb dumbells, 20lb dumbells

CARDIO 25 minutes elyptical machine (always do cardio at the END of your workout)
2 Miles

All in all this went well. I wasn't sore at my incission sights but I was very weak. Much weaker than I was a couple of months ago. I had to back off some of my weights and I nixed a couple of sets because I didn't think I could do them.

Diet that day was ok.. I need to get more real food protein sources in but it's tough.

Food for the day
Premiere Protein Shake 30 grams 160 calories
Egg beater omelette with a slice of fat free cheese, some mushrooms and a slice of thin turkey breast deli meat
2oz of smoked salmon and slice of fat free cheese
4 oz piece of Salmon, sauteed(sp) mushrooms, green beans for dinner
Scoop of protein powder at bedtime with 4oz skim milk/4oz water - 34 grams of protein/200 calories
WATER was about 70-75 oz's.

Also as far as supplements go I'm eating two calcium chews a day, two flintstone vitamins, and two fiber chews.

Scale said 262.6lbs at bedtime... Will not weigh again until Friday.

[trexlee001]

12/01/2014

Back and Biceps

Lat Pull downs
*warm-up*
3x12,10,10
100lbs, 125lbs, 135lbs

Seated Machine Rows
3x10
130lbs

Bent over Barbell Rows
2x10
135lbs.
These were much harder than I expected and was quite humbling that I could barely perform 2 sets of 10

Standing Barbell Curls
3X12,10,8
75lbs.
This was something else that I was much weaker on than I expected.

Hammer curls
3x10
45lb dumbbells, next two sets were done with 35lb dumbbells as the 45’s were too heavy to do 3 sets with.

CARDIO
25 minutes Elliptical. 2 miles


Diet was better today. I was able to get closer to my goal protein intake of 140

Breakfeast: 5:45 am half serving of Cheerios with 4oz milk
During workout 1 scoop protein powder mixed in a bottle of propel for 140 calories and 30 grams protein (finished about 8am)

12:30Lunch: 4oz salmon, green beans and mushrooms (other half of previous night’s dinner).

Snack
4:00pm Greek Yogurt

Dinner: 8pm 3oz seared Tuna steak, 2oz Turkey Chili with no beans, handful of multi grain tostedo chips
Bedtime 10pm-10:30 1 scoop Protein powder mixed in with 6oz of water 30 grams protein

Supplement intake 2 fiber chews, 2 flintstone complete, 2 calcium chews and of course protein powder

[Ann2]

You blogger, you!

Love, love your chili dog story. It's a metaphor for how we all got here.

Hard to believe, but I also had a powerlifting era.

I have lived many lives.

[trexlee001]

12/02/2014

Chest and Triceps

Flat Barbell Bench
*warm up X2*
5X5 185lbs.
Way harder than I expected but managed to get 4 reps on my last set

Incline (45 degree) Barbell Bench Press
3X10,8,8
135lbs. Nothing fancy here.. light and had to gut through the last few reps

Tricep pushdowns (with “V” bar attachment)
3x12
150lbs

Dumbbell Kickbacks
3X30 per arm

Pushups
2X failure

Cardio:
Eliptical 25 minutes 2 miles

Definitily weak right now. But this is my first week back after a long lay off and with my surgery and calorie intake so limited I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.

Will post diet tonight or tomorrow

[trexlee001]

Blogger.. lol. I suppose I am.

Keeping a training log is a good idea. It's not just good for food. It lets you see what you're doing and where you're improving, where you're stagnant, and if you're progressing or regressing.


I'm kind of winging it on a routine due to only being about 5 weeks post op on my sleeve.. And because I've layed off for so long I have to just get myself back into some kind of workout shape before I start a 5X5 program. As the weeks progress so will my routine along with my exercises and weights/reps. I've also switched to an AM workout routine which I hate because I have never been a morning person but it's pretty much the only way I can work out with my wife and kids and 1 hour 1 way commute to work. The sleeve is all about Change, so that means I have to change what I do now compared to what I used to do.. I don't want to fall back into old habbits.

[trexlee001]

12/03/2014

Cardio Day only

treadmill 20 minutes 1.5 miles using H.I.I.T. method
Eliptical 25 minutes 1.8 miles

Felt pretty good. I still haven't incorporated ab and oblique training in my routine yet since I'm just 5 weeks out from surgery. I plan on working them in 2X a week on cardio days starting Monday to see how they feel at 6 weeks post op.

[trexlee001]

(Took 12/04/15 off)

12/05/2014

5x5 day..err 3X5 day

Olympic squats
*Warm Up x2*
3X5 185lbs

Bench Press
*warm up x2*
3X5 185lbs

Bent Over Barbell Rows
3X5 135lbs

Barbell shrugs
3X12 225lbs

Tricep Extensions
2X8 140lbs with Rope attachment on cable pulley system

Standing Barbell Curls
3X8 75lbs

Hyper Extensions
2X10 just body weight no additional

Ab Crunches with Top Pulley rope attachment
2x12 140lbs (thought I'd go ahead and test the waters on abs.. a little sore but not too bad)

This took me about 45-50 minutes. A little longer than it should have but I did a little bit of gabbing with some gym friends and lost some focus. Workout went well. I am still shocked at how much weaker I am post surgery than pre-surgery. But that’s to be expected given what all I went through. I told himself already that I am checking my ego at the door and if I can’t lift as much as the 150lb teenager next to me.. so be it.. lol

[trexlee001]

12/07/2014

5X5 (B)

Deadlift 1X5 225lbs

Standing Military Overhead Barbell Press
115lbs 3X5

Bent OVer Barbell Row
135lbs 3X5

Close Grip Bench Press
3X8 155lbs

Standing Barbell Bicep Curls
3X8 75lbs

Ab Cable Crunch
140lbs 2X10

Face Pulls
2X8 140lbs

Workout went well. Workout B went a lot faster today than Workout A did this week.

[trexlee001]

12/08/2014

HIIT Cardio

5 min warm up on Treadmill

22 Minutes Recumbent Bike 30 seconds High intensity, 90 seconds Low intensity.. rinse and repeat for whole workout.

[trexlee001]

12/09/2014

5X5 (workout A)

Squat
*warmup*
Olympic Squat 5X5 135lbs

Bench Press
*warmup*
5X5 185lbs

Bent Over Barbell Row
3X5 155lbs

Barbell Shrugs
3X12 225lbs

Laying EZ curl bar tricep extensions or “Skull Crushers”
3X8

Standing EZ curl Barbell Curls
3X8

Cable Ab crunchs
2X12 150lbs

Pull throughs
2X10 150lbs


Workout “A” is the longer workout of the two. It took me right at an Hour today and I didn’t gab with anyone. I try to use 2 minutes rest in between sets but on the heavier compound lifts sometimes I will go 2.5 or 3 minutes.

Today is exactly 6 weeks since my surgery and I feel like I’m starting to get some of my weight lifting endurance back. I’m still pretty weak but I expect that given what I went through and what my diet restrictions are. I keep reminding myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Last night I kind of went cookie monster on some snicker doodles my wife and kids made and in less than an hour I hand pounded down 4 of them… Oh well, nobody is perfect and I will do better today.

[trexlee001]

12/10/2014

Cardio only day..

Eliptical today. did regular interval training for 40 minutes.

Nothing special today for sure..

[trexlee001]

12/11/2014

5x5 day (full 5X5)

Olympic squats
*Warm Up x2*
5X5 185lbs

Bench Press
*warm up x2*
5X5 185lbs

Bent Over Barbell Rows
3X5 155lbs

Barbell shrugs
3X12 225lbs

Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
2X10 75lb dumbbell

Standing Barbell Curls
3X8 75lbs

Hyper Extensions
2X10 Holding 25lb plate

Ab Crunches with Top Pulley rope attachment
2x12 150lbs

The full version of Workout "A" took me almost an hour and 15 minutes. The full version of workout B seems to take about 50 minutes. With that being said the Vanilla 3X5 version still averages out to be about 45 minutes.

[trexlee001]

12/12/2014

Bike ride around town for Cardio.. Rode 4 miles.

12/13/2014

Deadlift 1X5 225lbs

Standing Military Overhead Barbell Press
135lbs 5X5

Bent OVer Barbell Row
155lbs 3X5

Close Grip Bench Press
3X8 185lbs

Standing Barbell Bicep Curls
3X8 75lbs

Ab Cable Crunch
150lbs 2X10



Face Pulls
2X8 140lbs

[trexlee001]

12/15/2014

5x5 day (full 5X5)

Olympic squats
*Warm Up x2*
5X5 185lbs

Bench Press
*warm up x2*
5X5 225lbs

Bent Over Barbell Rows
3X5 185lbs

Barbell shrugs
3X12 225lbs, 225lbs, 285lbs

V Bar Tricep Cable pushdowns
180lbs 2x10

Standing Barbell Curls
3X10 75lbs

Ab Crunches with Top Pulley rope attachment
2x12 150lbs