Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Tuesday
Tried high volume with push presses and benches but along with lower back concerns my left shoulder bothered me slightly on push presses. Not much, but enough to abort considering the kind of volume I want to do. Instead did strict military presses w/ 73lbs, usually 8 reps; 35 sets and a few sets of dips.

Wednesday
Did 31 sets of chin/pullups. Usually got about 7 reps. Resting left elbow for now on OACs.

Been following your routine and that's some serious lifting. Nicely done.

I just had a question about your squats. You said you wanted to return to mid-to-close legged squats. I'm wondering why you would do that over a shoulder + stance. Wouldn't the physics in the wider stance give your back greater stability especially with the higher weights?

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Do not let the endless possibilities blind you to your one true path.

Yeah I think so. I've just been a lot stronger with a medium to narrow stance in the past. Squatted 400 at age 20 with just 8 months of training with a med/narrow stance. Started again at 31 and mainly because of ankle ligament damage I switched to a really wide stance but after 18 months still could only do 345. (Could just be that I'm older now and haven't played any sports like I used to.) But normally with a wide stance you would think it would be possible to squat more. I was going like Westside style wide (as wide as possible). (Ryan actually uses a medium stance last I saw.)

Because my back was hurting me (herniated a disc last Feb) I've decided a medium stance squat is probably just out for good. Maybe I'll try messing around with a really wide stance again and see how it feels. I may be weaker but it's better than nothing. With a really wide stance I can keep my torso pretty upright so maybe it won't be as tough on my back.

Oh just thought of one more thing...like I'm an expert or something
I really notice a difference depending on the type of footwear I have. I squat in bare feet or shoes that allow me to feel I'm lifting right through my heels.

Anyway, be careful.

_________________
Do not let the endless possibilities blind you to your one true path.

Well the wide squats were a big mistake Phoenix. (sigh) I've been sick for 3 months or so now and I haven't mentioned what my ailment is. It's embarrassing. But more than that. I'm very honest. I'm just not mentioning it to fit in/not embarrass others. Anyway wide squats caused me some serious pain a few hours later. Even worse the next day. I'm seeing a surgeon on the the 15th.

Saturday
Military presses w/ 73lbs circuited with chins-ups and dips. 22 sets of each in about 3 hours. 8 reps each set of chins. Took my time. Did some band benches instead of dips but think I'll just do dips in the future. Tried some bodyweight wide squats.....

Sunday
Increasing pain from anal fissure Saturday night. Extreme pain Sunday. Finally took 2 hydrocodone (sp) and 5 (1000mg) of an anti-inflammatory. Finally pain eased off.

Monday
Same circuit. 40 sets of usually 5 reps sometimes 6 on dips in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Easy boring workout. Haven't #2ed yet thanks to probably constipation from pain killers. Expect when I do, I then can look forward to intense pain the rest of the day.

I really eat pretty healthy and I think this wonderful illness was caused by forgetting to drink water and only eating oatmeal for a few days back in early October. (Maybe already weakened from who knows what? I'm not gay or anything, haha. Certainly get plenty of fiber. But maybe not enough water or dietary fat. Stress of ruined career maybe played a role.) It has just refused to heal since then which is often the case with this. There are people who have had this for decades. Every now and then it seems like it's healing then, bam, right back where I started. Maybe 3 times things have gotten so bad I've taken pain killers for it. But I've spent many days laying in bed as the pain gets bad enough that standing is difficult. Looks like it's ass surgery for me. The gods hate me. It hasn't been a good year. If anyone's reading this, please excuse my honesty.

This is my log though. I want to remember how much this sucked so that if I ever get better I'll hopefully not take good health for granted.

I've also had shingles and a herniated disc in the last year. But I've never had a cold or flu since becoming vegan. LOL.

Hey, sorry you're not feeling well, my friend.
I have no doubt stress has contributed, at least.
What do you think about breathing exercises?

Water is definitely up there, in terms of daily needs. I get a myriad of symptoms from not drinking enough. I know it's possible to drink too much, but I tend to not drink enough occasionally. Sometimes it's hard to balance...I have high water needs, but it sometimes interferes with adequate food consumption, even though I'm definitely a volume eater.
One thing I do is drink tisanes (or herbal, caffeine free blends) when I just can't get myself to take another drink of water.

Hey Jay,

Really sorry to hear that. No need to be ashamed of anything. Keep us posted on how things go.

Jay, you have got to take it easy on your body. There's nothing wrong with taking some time away from the weights as they really stress the system. I think your body is trying to tell you it needs a little break.

_________________
Do not let the endless possibilities blind you to your one true path.

Good words here. I had to take 2 full months off this summer when I sprained my entire lower back - it wasn't fun, but everything came back better than ever once I took that time off to heal on up. If I'd tried to work through it I'd probably still be aching all the time. Get some rest, man, and give your body maybe a short 2 week break and see what happens.

I stinks when you're working toward a goal and have to take time out, but it doesn't pay to meet the goal and be in constant pain the whole time getting there. Besides, you might find that you gain twice as fast once you get that rest period under your belt!

Thanks, but I took a week off mutlple times in October/November and it did nothing. If anything I've been better when getting some exercise. This is an anal fissure not a bad lower back. It doesn't heal because you use the bathroom everyday and rip it back open. It's not a matter of healing faster, it's a matter of not ripping it back open every day. It is unfortunately common for these things to not heal and to require surgery.

Hey Jay,

If you exhale strongly through your mouth you can feel it all the way through your system including your anus. Anytime you exert stress your core reacts.

I don't think one week is enough. When you're lifting it is taking your body's resources to build the body. A rest (longer than one -week) will allow your body's resources to work on healing other areas.

What's the first thing the doc is going to tell you to stop doing????

No more nagging friend. Just give it some thought.

_________________
Do not let the endless possibilities blind you to your one true path.

Can you use baby wipes to make it a bit more gentle on your bum? Just a thought. I usually poo 3-5 times everyday so my arse can get raw from the wiping, when that happens I sometimes use the babywipes because they are more gentle.

Regards,

Sensless

Thanks guys.

If I could use the bathroom 3 to 5 times a day that might be a good thing, I think. Constipation/hard bowel movements are the worst thing. Lack of exercise increases such things. But I wonder if it's more jogging than lifting weights which would be good. But then I've seen even serious runners have this problem too. Supposedly it's pretty common but people just don't talk about it.

I've seen two doctors already and read extensively about this and no one says to not exercise. They say nothing or the opposite. Maybe I'll give it up anyway, I'll have to think about it.

And yes I use some kind of wet wipes with aloe vera.

Well it could be worse. My real estate agent takes 16 lortabs a day for chronic back pain. She's probably going to eventually just have the nerves cut and be wheelchair bound.

Anyway today I took 3 lortabs. That's the most I've ever taken. It's not doing much so I might take another in a bit. Tomorrow I have surgery. I'm glad that I at least got the surgery moved up.

The lortabs help my state of mind though. Have to give them that. Feel like I'm diving down into something intricate and full of life. As opposed to an emptiness. The pain after the surgery may at first be even worse. That's a very scary thought.

Stay positive Jay.


Peace........

_________________
Do not let the endless possibilities blind you to your one true path.

Yea, surgery usually bites but often the doctor's dope you out pretty well so the few days afterwards are a blur. Then after a few weeks the acute pains from surgery are gone and then you realize the chronic pains that put you under the knife are also gone. Then life begins again!

Good luck with surgery. I'm sure it will make things better for you.

Regards,

Jr.