Well mates and lasses,
Ol' Roman here is on the comeback trail. It's been a rough road for sure. I've had four (4) significant illness', two things fixed in the operating room, and all in, I'm down about 50 pounds since May 2013. 2013 was a bad year for me, and it feels like I've been 15 rounds with Rocky Balboa!
But I'm back home now, my health is returning, and "things" seem to be working as they should.
I came home early April weighing 195lbs I started my plan to return to the gym. By the end of April, I was back in the gym, hitting every major muscle group very lightly each time I went in. Very careful not to overdo it. One of the operations I had was for a hernia. Albeit a minor one, but still a hernia. So I decided to avoid the trappings of trying to go heavy, and instead utilize absolutely perfect form, and repping in very slow motion. I am actually a little surprised to see how quickly this technique is generating improvements.
The good news:
In 30 days, I've gained 10lbs of almost pure lean. I haven't checked with the calipers yet, but a visual of myself in the mirror has me around somewhere between 13 and 14% bf. Probably closer to 13%. I have a pretty good eye, and so I don't bother with the calipers except every once in a while.
I think I will continue with this technique.
I have a theory why blokes my age that are trying to be serious with their efforts, and why they seem to get injured so frequently. And I believe it has something to do with the little note book I always carried with me in the gym. The theory goes something like this:
When I have my little book, I always like to see progress. So if I don't add weight, I like to increase the reps. And I like to see regular progress. I become fascinated with the big numbers. Which means to get the numbers I get, I utilize peripheral muscle groups, and sacrifice perfect form. This form of compensating is the road to injury, at least for me. So for now, I'm ditching my little note book, and instead, really paying attention to what my body is telling me. Yes, I still need to keep my reps within range, but when I slow down and utilize perfect form, I really need to use lighter weights to accomplish this. And with lighter weights and slower reps, so the theory goes, the risk of injury is reduced. And so far, my body seems to be responding very well to this "technique".
Yes, this is all pretty basic stuff. But when I go into the gym, it seems nobody has perfect form, and all are repping too quickly (at least for the older bulls). Everyone in the gym wants the big numbers, and I suspect most of the members here fall into the same category. How often have you seen a guy benching heavy weight, but the range of motion is less than optimal? Quite often is probably what you are thinking to yourself. Or the bloke on the leg press going real heavy, but only lets the weights come down less than a foot? Pretty ridiculous when you stop and think about it.
So this is my strategy, and my plan. Lighter weights, absolutely perfect form, and very slow reps.
So I'll come back here periodically and post my weight, bf%, and occasionally some feedback as to my progress. I won't be posting too much on the numbers, as like I said earlier, once I start concentrating on the numbers, instead of listening to what my body is telling me, then I've started down the old path again, something I really don't want to do.
So, ten pounds the first month. The next month will be less, of course. But good progress none the less.
---Roman
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Originally Posted by paulzane
