Project HUGE: My Ass Hurts
This is attempt #1734 to get back into the gym. I had a talk this weekend with my girlfriend. I told her that I felt horrible about my state of health ant that I needed some more time to work on "me" (yes, I know I sound like a woman). We came to the conclusion that on nights I work out (3 x week), I will be staying at my place rather than commuting to her place. This way, all I have to do is concentrate on lifting some heavy steel and I don't have to worry about having any energy post-workout for travel or "being engaged" (ie. talking, communicating, being conscious).
So, in honor of this new plan, I had a sweet leg workout yesterday. Some back squats, step ups, hip adduction, and donkey calve raises have left me quite sore today. My ass in particular. I know this is just body-shock and will wear off soon. I have my fingers crossed. Hopefully this time will be the time that I actually stick to a fitness regimen.... I am eternally optimistic about becoming beeftastic.
Light weight baby!
Reader Comments
So, as a regular gym rat myself (5:30 am, 5 days a week - ahem, more or less), this is what I know...
You're one hurting pony today, my friend. Getting back into legs - especially squats - after any kind of layoff HURTS. Quads, hamstrings, ass, all of it. I hate leg days. Hate them.
Is it just me or does:
Project HUGE: My Ass Hurts
sound like a porn movie title starring Ashley Blue or something. Maybe it's just my twisted mind.
@Rob,
That is some sweet dedication you have! So far I am walking fairly well. I know that tomorrow, my calved will tighten up and I will not be able to fully extend my leg and I will be walking around for one-to-two days looking like I dropped a load in my pants :)
Leg day is always tough. That's why I am making that Sunday, since I will have the most rest.
@Tony,
Ha ha ha, that would be funny.
For me, leg day is Saturday morning. If I make it in for that 6th day (which happens sometimes. Really.), then I have all day Saturday and Sunday to recover before returning to more enjoyable muscle groups on Monday.
Besides, I run on weekdays, too and that just ain't happenin' if I've done a good leg workout in the last day or so. Nothing smokes my bags like squats.
@Rob,
I can't believe how much you are able to get into the gym. You shame me with your dedication. I used to try to work out in the morning, but found that anything more than single joint movements (curls, tri-ext, calved, etc) would make me dizzy and cranky. I can't seem to do anything of use until about 2pm.
Man I know the feeling. I just started working out again after doing nothing for the last year. After leg day I was walking around like I'd just sat on a flagpole. ;(
Everyone has their schedule. For pretty much anything, I find that mornings work best for me. My body just responds then. So does my brain. Catch me at 3:30 in the afternoon and I'm all but napping at my desk unless I'm working on something the really interests me.
I also find that I HATE waiting for equipment. If I go after work I'm half comatose and often have to wait. At 5:30, I'm energetic and only have to work around about 4 other people. That doesn't suck.
The long and short of it is this: If I go in the evenings then I don't go (and get really, really soft). I figured that out a long time ago and stopped trying to change my schedule. :-)
I've found that after either a strong leg day or, as happens more often, any leg day following a layoff:
1. It takes me every bit of three days to remove that flagpole that Adam mentioned.
2. The second day borders on excruciatingly painful/uncomfortable.
3. Counter-intuitively, going down stairs is significantly more painful than going up during that 3 day period.
4. The discomfort can be almost demoralizing. Sometimes I have to *force* myself into the gym on days 2 and 3.
I read a good article a few years back called something like "100 reps to a faster recovery". It basically talked about the day or two after a workout, if you do 4 sets of 25 reps for a muscle group at light weight through out the day (1 set every few hours) it gets blood flowing to the muscles which brings nutrients and hopefully faster recovery.
So, on tuesday, when I go in for some Back stuff, I will so some really light body squats through out the day, or maybe even start today. Nothing stressful, just something to get the blood flowing. I think it is a very sound idea.
Ben,
When I was younger I used to race bicycles competitively both on and off-road. After a race or a hard workout I'd do active recovery the next workout where I would just go out for a light spin on flat roads at a quick cadence for 30 minutes or so. It does get your blood flowing and supposedly helps flush lactic acid from your muscles. I forget the fancy science behind it but the bottom line was that it made a difference in speeding recovery.
Rob
Yeah, I think it sounds like a good idea. I am gonna rock some really light weight leg exercise over the next few days.
Man, i've been such a lard arse of late, i used to play rugby, tennis and run. The only think i've done recently it twix bar curls and the coffee sprint!
I'm now inspired to get back into sport and down the gym!
Well said Tony it does sound just like that. Only Ben would come up with something like that let alone have the balls to turn it into a blog post on going to the gym when to anyone else it would be anything but that!
Ben do you have any online resources that show some of the exercises you can do? I have some links I've been collecting so wanted to see if you had any.
Now that I'm back from vacation tonight I'm heading back to the gym. All last year I focused on running to get into shape for soccer. Now this year I think my focus will be on light running and much more on weight lifting.
@Nick,
Yeah, you should totally get back into the gym. It's awesome. We can all encourage each other.
@Javier,
I don't know of that many places. Testosterone Nation (http://www.t-nation.com) has excellent articles and a weekly newlsetter that I highly recommend you subscribe to. They have a real no-BS way of talking about fitness (also some hilarious non-fitness related stuff).
I am just getting back into the gym and actually liking it... the trick that I have been doing (before the weights) is to get on the bike and read a book for half an hour.. I do all the excercise and dont really notice it.
This week I start on the weights... woohoo!
I guess waking up at 6 am has got me into the rythm, especially since the gym is precicely 20 steps from my office, so I can get there before I start work, only means catching an earlier train... Damn, I wish you luck and keep it up!
If you're tired don't work with heavy still. Your condition will be worth
Oh man, I just tried doing 15 body-weight squats and it was very tiring. I figure a few 15 rep sets scattered through out the day and I should get some good blood into the area.
@Mark,
Awesome that you are also getting back into the gym. Good luck to you as well.
Wanted to share what I use for learning more about working out. The library at Traineo has proven so useful for me: http://www.traineo.com/library. Here is another site I found awhile back before Traineo that has a load of information plus its built in CF! ;) http://www.great-workout.com/
Right now I just decided to try something new Ben. I do HIT (High Intensity Training) which involves doing intervals of 1 minute at a very fast speed (usually double what I jog) and then 2 minutes at half that speed to recover. You have to repeat this 6 times. You can read about it at Traineo. I'm also doing their Quick Ab routines. Hopefully this will pay off and go well.
Congrats on the ass plan. Best motivation I've had? Make a bet. I dropped 25 lbs. that way.
I have always worked best in the AM, my body has no idea what I am making it do. Gotta love that 6AM spinning class. And weights - ew. I do cardio and flexibility. Put me on a treadmill and zone out. Then off to yoga. Lots of benefits. ;-)
@Javier,
Those are cool sites. I had an idea for a fitness site years ago. Ironically enough I was making good progress BEFORE i learned about OOP. Then when I read something about OOP and CF I totally scrapped the project. Where am I like 4 years later? Haven't started again :( Shows you that OOP doesn't always help get stuff done ;)
The most important thing for you is to have a goal and someone who hopefully stands behind you and not in front of you. Thats why I went looking at all these web 2.0's I settled on Gimme20.com to find people in my area to motivate me with my recent move. Best of luck and set the goals small and obtainable to keep yourself going.