You must have really stocked up. :-) I should give that stuff a try ... but it really sucks that these things are getting harder and harder to get. :-)

Next to impossible now....I see two auctions on eBay (likely to get pulled before completion), and one is at $100 with 2 days left...the second is at $70 and the reserve is not met. Insane.

Damn. Something new needs to get developed to fill the void ... and fast. Either that or I need to see a doctor for some anti-aging therapy. :-)

Anti-aging therapy, eh.....Hmmmmm.... :-) :-)

And you're even old enough to need it! :-) :-)

I needed it 20 years ago! :-)

So--I'm falling behind... I missed all of the week of the storms because til I was done shoveling out the driveway--5 days in a row, I was too tired to really do anything else, then this past week, I hurt my shoulder... It sucks because I only got in chest, tris, and legs this week...

With you saying that, not only are they most likely cheap, but more often then not if they are misused they can be destroyed.
Case in point- my old gym had three foam rollers, the smaller kind. They would take them and wrap bungee cords around them to hold them in place underneath of some sort of stupid kicking bag. So rather then teach people how to use a foam roller, they mis-used them to protect people from doing pointless sh1t.

Man ... I thought *my* gym was stupid. :-)

you have no idea brother. one of many reason why I bailed on that place like a fat chick the morning after

Sometimes a break can be the best thing to ever happen to you brother. Think about it like this, take some time off and go back to lifting. Or....
You try to push through too much, get injured, or possibly overtrain which can leads to getting sick etc.

I guess the main thing to take away is listen to your body. If your body can take it and you being a *****, well than your just being a *****. But if your body says that it's had enough, take the time off.
My friend has one, first time I pushed it I did 25 yard sprints with 4 45's on it. After about 10 of them, I had to lay on the ground, and shortly thereafter I dry heaved for 30 minutes.

It's frustrating because I just took a break over Christmas, and that break was great for me because my progress was going very well for the first month back. I'm really bothered because it's my trap and I really hurt it pretty bad back in August and I'm afraid of what would happen, but I can't afford to be missing as much time as I am...

I'm hoping that by next Thursday I'm good to go on shoulders. Chest, tris, and legs should be okay on Monday and Tuesday.

So, speaking of rest, it looks like I will be taking this week off. Went in yesterday to do some deloading squats and deads. Came up halfway through my last set of squats and tweaked my back :-) So, I'll take some long walks, and do lots of stretching. Maybe I'll try some yoga for Tom :-)

Dokk is the Yoga Guru, Pete...hope your back heals fast. :-)

Off to the gym myself to hit legs and shoulders.

:-) :-)


Get a foam roller from elitefts.com. Seriously, Pete ... they're a life saver.

I've got one. I used it yesterday. Will again today.

Sweet. :-)

I'm gonna go to the gym in a few and probably do another 20 minutes on my legs after some cardio.

Today is my day off.... My muscles feel healed and I can stretch my arms again.

Now I've got a question for you all.

Should I go right into the strength stuff, then do the elliptical or elliptical first, then strength?

You should warm up first. I'll generally ride the recumbent bike for 7-10 minutes -- enough to get my heart rate up to the high 120s ... but not enough to make me winded or make my muscles burn in any way. I'm really just doing it enough to get my blood flowing and my joints loosened up a little. After that, I'll stretch whatever body parts I'm working that day. I'll use static stretching (i.e. just standing or sitting there stretching the right muscles), dynamic stretching (i.e. stretches involving movement a bit more, like box jumps on leg day), and foam roller.

After that, I'll ease into my lifts. If bench, I'll do *just the bar* until I'm ready to add weight, which is usually after around 50+ reps. I'll do bar-only on squat before adding any weight. And on deads, I'll do some stiff-legged deads with just the bar to stretch out before adding any weight.

Just be sure you're feeling limber and your joints are moving freely before you start adding weight. Also, don't feel compelled to add weight too quickly. Speaking from experience, that's a good way to hurt yourself. Check your ego at the door and work from the ground up.

Finally, something Gerry told me when I first started is a great thing to keep in mind: being sore is okay, but pain is pain. There's a difference between sore muscles and straight-up pain. Acknowledge that difference and avoid the latter.



One other note: if you've never done weight training, you may want to spend a couple of weeks doing lots of ab exercises to prime your core. A stronger core makes doing all the various lifts safer and more effective. When I first started, I basically spend the first 3 weeks doing 40 minutes cardio, 200 ab exercises, and 40 minutes of cardio ... 5 days a week. It sucked, but it was good for me. I'm also a fatty, so YMMV. :-)

If you want a good warm up/stretching routine checkout Magnificent Mobility here