Exercise (Reps) - Weight
Seated Row (15) - from 60 lbs to 100 lbs.
Chest Press (15) - from 75 lbs to 105 lbs
Leg Press (15) - from 260 lbs to 260 lbs
Leg Curl (15) - from 120 lbs to 135 lbs
Lateral Pulldown (15) - from 70 lbs to 100 lbs
Shoulder Press (15) - from 60 lbs to 105 lbs
Leg Extensions (15) - from 100 lbs to 87.5 lbs
Bicep Curl (15) - from 30 lbs to 35 lbs (dumbbells)
Tricep Pressdown (15) - from 50 lbs to 70 lbs
Reclined Sit-ups - from 30 reps to 50 reps
Knee Raises (30) are now Leg Raises (30)
As one can clearly see, I’ve been having a lot of success in the gym. In fact, I just came from the gym and I'm exhausted. I push myself hard 3 times a week and my body is showing the amazing results. Every time I get out the shower, I spend well over a minute toweling myself off with a proud grin on my face. It takes a couple seconds to get used to the fact that the body in the mirror is actually mine.
While I’ve been able to increase the weights of my upper body significantly, my lower body was having trouble keeping up. In late January, I felt a strange pain in my right knee that I’d never felt before. Not wanting to take any chances, I decided to stay away from the leg workouts for most of February. As the month went on, I began questioning the pain. If my knee isn’t up for a workout, then why can I still run up and down the stairs when doing rounds at the bank job’s parking garage? Could the pain simply be my legs getting used to being worked out as it had never been before? I thought about it for a while, and decided I was gonna go gung-ho on my leg workouts. I went online and looked for leg strengthening exercises. I started doing lunges before every workout. I saw a trainer do a really cool workout on the leg press machine, so I copied it (5 long reps followed by 5 short reps = 1 set, so I’d do 4 sets in succession). I noticed my knees would especially hurt after being on the leg extensions machine, so I reduced the weight by 12.5 pounds to 87.5. But the coolest workout I found was the wall sit.
After sitting like this for two minutes, my thighs and glutes were on fire and I loved it! I mean, it really felt like my leg and thigh muscles were connecting like never before! Combined with the other leg workouts, my legs feels great now. My knee still hurts from time to time, but it’s nowhere near the pain I felt when I stopped working out in February. And after decades of having skinny legs, I can clearly see the muscles increasing the thickness.
I’m most proud of the rep increase in reclining sit-ups. I never thought I could do 50 reps at once when I was struggling to get to 30, pushing through the inevitable burning pain in my thighs. But my abs are getting stronger and stronger every day as I fight through the pain and increase my max by 5 reps every few weeks. If I can do 100 reps by the end of the year, that would be a major accomplishment.
The biggest obstacle I have now is controlling my weight. Right now I’m at 215. I’m struggling to understand how to control my weight with the added muscle. Ideally, I’d like to be in the 205 to 215 range, so I’ll eat less portions of food but keep the content the same. In my next session with my personal trainer Ryan, I’ll make sure to ask him about foods that are high in fiber and protein but low in fat and carbohydrates. I’ve noticed that people waste money on their personal trainers by talking about the weather or about their lives. I made sure Ryan knew that I’m not paying for a friend, but rather a trainer who can give me information that will help me get the results I want (I said it in a nice way, of course).
I love this body of mine. Even with all my health issues, I can still look like I’m using steroids. The gym is slowly becoming my favorite place to go, and I look forward to see how I look by the next update (June).
Seated Row (15) - from 60 lbs to 100 lbs.
Chest Press (15) - from 75 lbs to 105 lbs
Leg Press (15) - from 260 lbs to 260 lbs
Leg Curl (15) - from 120 lbs to 135 lbs
Lateral Pulldown (15) - from 70 lbs to 100 lbs
Shoulder Press (15) - from 60 lbs to 105 lbs
Leg Extensions (15) - from 100 lbs to 87.5 lbs
Bicep Curl (15) - from 30 lbs to 35 lbs (dumbbells)
Tricep Pressdown (15) - from 50 lbs to 70 lbs
Reclined Sit-ups - from 30 reps to 50 reps
Knee Raises (30) are now Leg Raises (30)
As one can clearly see, I’ve been having a lot of success in the gym. In fact, I just came from the gym and I'm exhausted. I push myself hard 3 times a week and my body is showing the amazing results. Every time I get out the shower, I spend well over a minute toweling myself off with a proud grin on my face. It takes a couple seconds to get used to the fact that the body in the mirror is actually mine.
While I’ve been able to increase the weights of my upper body significantly, my lower body was having trouble keeping up. In late January, I felt a strange pain in my right knee that I’d never felt before. Not wanting to take any chances, I decided to stay away from the leg workouts for most of February. As the month went on, I began questioning the pain. If my knee isn’t up for a workout, then why can I still run up and down the stairs when doing rounds at the bank job’s parking garage? Could the pain simply be my legs getting used to being worked out as it had never been before? I thought about it for a while, and decided I was gonna go gung-ho on my leg workouts. I went online and looked for leg strengthening exercises. I started doing lunges before every workout. I saw a trainer do a really cool workout on the leg press machine, so I copied it (5 long reps followed by 5 short reps = 1 set, so I’d do 4 sets in succession). I noticed my knees would especially hurt after being on the leg extensions machine, so I reduced the weight by 12.5 pounds to 87.5. But the coolest workout I found was the wall sit.
 |
| An example of a wall sit. Unlike this guy, I like reaching my arms outward. |
After sitting like this for two minutes, my thighs and glutes were on fire and I loved it! I mean, it really felt like my leg and thigh muscles were connecting like never before! Combined with the other leg workouts, my legs feels great now. My knee still hurts from time to time, but it’s nowhere near the pain I felt when I stopped working out in February. And after decades of having skinny legs, I can clearly see the muscles increasing the thickness.
 |
| I'll usually do reclining sit-ups at the highest peak, which is normally around 60 degrees |
I’m most proud of the rep increase in reclining sit-ups. I never thought I could do 50 reps at once when I was struggling to get to 30, pushing through the inevitable burning pain in my thighs. But my abs are getting stronger and stronger every day as I fight through the pain and increase my max by 5 reps every few weeks. If I can do 100 reps by the end of the year, that would be a major accomplishment.
The biggest obstacle I have now is controlling my weight. Right now I’m at 215. I’m struggling to understand how to control my weight with the added muscle. Ideally, I’d like to be in the 205 to 215 range, so I’ll eat less portions of food but keep the content the same. In my next session with my personal trainer Ryan, I’ll make sure to ask him about foods that are high in fiber and protein but low in fat and carbohydrates. I’ve noticed that people waste money on their personal trainers by talking about the weather or about their lives. I made sure Ryan knew that I’m not paying for a friend, but rather a trainer who can give me information that will help me get the results I want (I said it in a nice way, of course).
I love this body of mine. Even with all my health issues, I can still look like I’m using steroids. The gym is slowly becoming my favorite place to go, and I look forward to see how I look by the next update (June).
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