:-)

Very unfocused this morning. Chest, biceps and triceps, but not a good workout. Flat bench, incline DBs, curls and dips. Think I'm going to lift tomorrow instead of Saturday, as I was planning. I'm afraid I'll drop the bar on my head or something if I try and lift the day of my wedding...

Lifted for the first time in a very long time yesterday. It was mediocre; but not nearly as bad as I thought I was going to be. I'm sore as sh*t today, though. :-)

Back day coming shortly...

I spent yesterday after my workout going through this thread. Wow there's a lot of info in here and references to a lot of good info. I just wanted to refresh some of those posts, and point out some stuff that stuck out in my head. Dave posted about a site www.sorinex.com where they have some good forums and equipment. I even think he was in one of the deadlifting videos from there that he posted (or at least it definitely looked like him). Tom loves ON Rocky Road protein. I should have counted but either him or someone else has said multiple times how much he likes it. So if you need protein get that one! And it seems White Flood and Jack3d are the consensus picks for a preworkout drink. Gerry used to post a lot more than he does now (hint hint). Dokk has made some major gains since he first started posting in here. Bao and Pete also made some great changes to their workouts and diets which have helped them in their quests. Tom is still huge. I'm trying to get there. Went from 207 to 223 in 1 year, adding about an inch or 2 to most of my body. It is also amazing to see how many other people pop in and out of the thread looking for advice, and not once did anyone turn them away :-) Just wanted to say I'm proud of everyone that contributes to the workout thread. It is cool to see how much we help each other. Off to the gym :-)

16 pounds of muscle in a year is pretty fuggin' good, Son! Keep up the hard work! :-)

Nice summary Christos!

FYI...I can see very small changes in my muscle definition but that's it :-)

Rest last night and push-ups this AM. Felt a bad tweak in my left shoulder again that I think I developed years ago in the Marines doing pull-ups :-)

You know, I followed this craze and tried the Jack3d PW. The energy you get from it is really good but I was disappointed with the pump. I used the entire bottle before coming to my conclusion that it wasn't for me since I know there's a lot of contributing factors (ie: water consumption, carbs, time of day for the workout...etc). The PW supp that I like the most is MHP's TRAC Xtreme NO. Best pump with just enough stims for a good workout yet not many people use it.

The Jack3d left me gasping for breath on some days.:-)

Anyone else use the High Intensity Training method? When I picked up a personal trainer at the beginning of the year, he turned me on to it.

Moderately heavy weight with little rest time and lot of different intensity training techniques thrown in. Every set to failure. I puked my first 3 leg work outs in a row.

I think different products can also work differently with body chemistry, so what works great for one person might be blah for another.

That being said, I think I will give the MHP a try as I like to switch up my pre-workout supps fairly regularly to keep the body confused.

I completely agree with you on this. Something that most people don't know about is that Vitamin World and GNC have open bottle policies. If you don't like it you can take it back for atleast an exchange. Black Powder by MRi gave a crazy pump but lacked any stims at all.

I can't believe it took me this long to find this thread. :-)

Felt like I needed something different today so I did weighted pull-ups.

Started with 30lbs added for 16 reps, and worked up to a final weighted set of +80 for 5 reps. Then cranked out a couple sets of bodyweight ones.

Hit heavy dumbbell rows and cable rows next. Tried to finish with some medium weight barbell rows for reps, but I was just trashed...so I went and got steak and eggs instead.

Hit 400 x 5 deadlift yesterday... Almost to my current goal of 405 x 5. I'll probably repeat 400 next week, though. My legs were a bit weak and sore still from leg burnout day on Monday. Going for 105 3x6 DB bench press tomorrow. Still working my way back up on squats after hip injury took me out of leg training for about 6 weeks. My legs have gotten weak... Hopefully won't take too long to get back up to 335 3x5 squat. Sitting at 275 3x5, now.

yesterday was my second day back lifting and I tried out legs. leg press was fine -- worked my way back up to my old warm-up weight and did a few sets of 10. went to do some deadlifts after that and just wasn't feeling it in the hams/glutes on the right side (the side that was injured). I'm sore as sh*t today; but that's fine. I'll *ease* back into the leg stuff ... I know that's going to take a little more time and patience than upper body. I also know that I need to just listen to my body and not risk anything (and listening is what I did yesterday). I think I might actually do some 1-legged machine work next week to help ease back in.

Hope it keeps gettin' "easier", Dokk. :-)

Ok guys, I need some input here. I'm 35 and have been lifting off and on since my teenage years and have never had this problem. I seem to have developed what seems to be tendonitis(i'm guessing) in both forearms. About 5 months ago it started as what seemed to be an elbow problem but then the pain moved to the top of my right forearm, especially when I rotate my arm. It was isolated to that arm and kind of came and went until it seemed to be getting better and then it flared up the same way in my left arm. I have two little ones at home and sometimes it hurts just to pick them up. I haven't really changed my routine but I have added more pullups and I think that may have been the culprit. So I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this issue. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds to me like you have inflammation, tendinitis or whatever in your Brachioradialis. Very common place to get it. Symptoms you mention are very similar to what most guys complain about. The pain radiates like a mother too, and is probably why you feel it in the elbow area. Reason it is so common is just about everything you do requires the Brachioradialis to be incorporated. And most lifters do not target the area training wise specifically.
There are a lot of short term solutions to the pain. Elbow sleeves, icy hot, stop pain etc. If you have good insurance go see a sports specialist they will know much more about your possible injury than just a regular Doctor. Just go to make sure there is no serious issue. Time off, and a slow return with massage therapy while slowly strengthening the area is the best bet. Pick up a pair of wrist straps. Use them during back and shoulder workouts ( raises etc for shoulders ) to take some of the strain off of your Brachioradialis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachioradialis

Thanks, Admiral. :-)

I also noticed today (and even DrMS does) that some of the muscles in my right leg definitely atrophied -- they are noticeably smaller than my left leg, whereas before they were relatively symmetrical. I'm guessing that's on account of the nerve damage. :-)

Haven't posted in here in awhile. Been hitting the weight room pretty hard as of late. Lost 30 lbs in last two months, which I attribute mostly to just eating better. Started a new workout that is kicking my ass and started hitting the bike again. Hoping to continue on the same path

Thanks for the info Frank. I think you may be right.