Workout Progress Update - 34 Workouts In 39 Days - My Motivation & Getting Myself Fired Up For The Next Push
This is an important time for me because it was the final days my Dad was alive last year before passing away from brain cancer...
...without an apology or single word of love after inexplicably ravaging me with insults and hatred of everything I stood for since childhood, ending the tirade by disowning me with a grin just a few months before... (sparked because I asked him to stop being verbally & emotionally abusive towards me).
...after I went to every cancer-related appointment with him and researched alternatives for years, and then took care of him with my Mom in the most challenge of ways at home for his final weeks...
Lovely.
Working out with my daily Steemit Fitness Challenge crew was a lifesaver for me then. It was so important to me that my Dad would see me strong and built up at the end, that he didn't break me down.
I'm glad that I'm starting to get myself back in shape again so I'll be stronger for the upcoming days/memories, as opposed to safely waiting for my injury to completely heal.
In sum, this isn't some type of vanity mission for rewards. It's as personal as it gets.
Anyway, with my shoulder gradually improving, my 3-month blitz to get in shape before my baseball season is almost halfway done.
I felt the need to reignite my focus and purpose, so I'm posting this before the gym tonight. I weighed in at 205.5 pounds. Not trying to lose weight, just get stronger.
No tricks by lifting first, and no flexing beyond generally tightening up. Nothing special, just a snapshot.
Previous progress shots taken at a professional photo studio with perfect lighting:
Nothing crazy, but it's been less than a month and half. Results are much easier to notice when I'm not in that absurd pose in my bathroom mirror (err, photo studio). After a great start, I've been tailing off a little bit lately with my effort, so perhaps my gains have tapered off somewhat as well.
In terms of strength, endurance, and my clothes fitting me differently, it's night and day. Now that I have a good foundation taking form, I can really dig into pushing myself to the next level I haven't seen in a few years.
Feedback Since My Last Update:
I have Bowflex Revolution below at my apartment, which I finally started using for the first time in about 3 years. No joke. Yea, I know... it's great for holding clothes. My previous home workouts were always done with only a 75 LB bar and body weight, with this sitting untouched in the corner for no apparent reason:
I've been using this more recently because it's been freaking cold where I live, and my schedule keeps pushing me to either rush to the gym late at night, or take my time at home. I've been choosing the latter a bit, which is ok, but I know I'm not pushing myself hard enough. Being at the gym around others activates my competitive nature, and I do far more than I'd do at home. The gym also obviously has a larger variety of resources I miss out on by potentially treading water with a safe workout at home.
Therefore, here's this post to piss myself off again to go to the gym with a vengeance instead of exercising at my place. I need to keep this as a last ditch option, not a convenience.
Baseball Workouts:
There were two random warm days in recent week I went to a turf baseball field with a teammate to throw, hit each other grounders, and do lots of batting practice in the hitting tunnel.
With the excessive amount of hip and trunk work I've been doing, and simulated pitching with resistance, I had quite a live arm for my first throws since last September. It felt electric. Swinging was also a breeze. This is not common after months off and healing from an upper body injury, so it was encouraging to feel like I was in mid-season form well before pre-season starts.
Food:
I've been eating extremely well. For example, today featured raw almonds, soy milk, a can of tuna, and a pound of lean ground turkey sautéed with 1/3 of an onion and 3 garlic gloves. Condiments were organic ketchup and sea salt. I also had water, but not enough. I'll fix that later and eat more protein after my workout.
While my results seem to be normal for the effort I'm putting forth, I haven't taken any supplements or short cuts. The worst I've had are a few protein bars. I don't think I'd ever be able to take any type of supplement that would help me perform better than I could naturally through normal nutrition. It'd also make me feel like any success on the baseball field wouldn't be all my doing.
Therefore, all natural as always... and that's been just fine for me.
That's it for now. Off to the gym to keep me moving forward and far, far away from the memories of this time last year.
...And now you know why I've been posting more comedy stuff lately... helps me laugh instead of feel bad about being stuck with the wonderful parting gift my Dad passed along to me.
Thanks for following along.
ǝɹǝɥ sɐʍ ɹoʇɐɹnƆ pɐW ǝɥ┴
The generous actions from the masked superhero (and delegators) behind this project are genuinely reviving my hope for content creation for authors across this platform.
Hey bro, I remember this time last year, a lot of stuff was going on in your life and I'm glad you and your family pulled through it all. The fitness challenge helped a lot of us, I might have let myself go a bit but I always start or end the day with cumulative 100rep of exercises.
You look really good I must say, stay strong man
Yea, you are one of the elite veterans from that era. I'm close to bringing it back, just need to get my business in order a little bit more.
Despite tailing off, congrats on still being committed to your health in some way. Any amount of consistent exercise is a huge accomplishment. Most people count their steps on their phone app and call that work. As some advice, don't settle for 100. That bar was too low for me and I found myself getting complacent without pushing myself. Muhammed Ali said he didn't start counting his reps until they started hurting...
Thanks for the recognition. Ironically, my arms have seen the biggest gains, but they are concealed in these weird bathroom mirror pics.
Great, what rehab exercises are you doing for your shoulder injury?
I did a ton of medial and lateral rotations, and arm circles with light 5-8 pound weights. It felt like the bicep tendon was popping out of its groove if I went to far/heavy, so I kept the range comfortable. I also did a lot speed bag boxing. Shoulder raises were too hard to do with the popping, but shoulder presses were ok. I tried the kettle bell hold above my head as you mentioned, but the area didn't feel stable enough. I think that'll be for the next phase. I'm not 100% yet, but it's not popping much anymore and the pain is only when I really push it, so I feel like it could make a near-full recovery in another two months. I did keep telling myself your story about the athletes you work with returning back to their sport within weeks, so that kept me thinking it was possible.
What is the weight for the kb hold?
use as light as possible.
no weights, stay straight, can you put your arm over your head?
I'll be at the gym tonight and will try with some light KBs to answer. I probably went too heavy last time. The last time I tried the KBs was over a month ago, so I can't remember the weight, but I've made great recovery progress since then. My shoulder just didn't feel "stable and secure" then, but it's better now to try again with light weights.
I have full range of motion now with my arm over my head, to the side and behind my back without weights. I always did in the past, but I'd reach a point where I think the tendon was popping of my shoulder groove and straining something in the area for pain, but not anymore. As long as I continue what I'm doing and add some KB shoulder work, I think I'll be fully ok in a few months. Such a relief because it felt pretty scary at first that it was more serious.
@rmsbodybuilding - feedback requested...
I can see there the last rib ends :) getting ripped!
Sadly, I never care about shredding up because I fear losing power for my sport, so the muscles are under there hiding away. I'm eating much leaner though, so I don't think I'll be adding much fat on these days, especially with the increased activity and then my upcoming season. Thanks for the resteem!