Winding down, working out

[redbird]

A slow day at work, because we're basically done with what I'm working on. Around 4, Edie said I could either leave, or stay if I wanted to be paid for the remaining couple of hours of the day. I said I'd go, and she said "Go to the gym" (rather than home). I said "Of course"--Edie is a good influence on me in this.

It was a good workout; I like being at the gym at the less-crowded times.

(I'm going in to the office tomorrow more as insurance than because there's expected to be much to do, but I get paid for it; I wouldn't be surprised to be sent home early again.)

Cardio, 21 minutes, top heart rate 150
(Nautilus) vertical chest press, 60 pounds, 2 sets of 12
Calf machine, 75 pounds, 2 sets of 12; 70 pounds, 12
Leg press, 280 pounds, 3 sets of 12. I think this is the first time I've done that weight for three sets.
Tricep pulldown, 45 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 40 pounds, 15
Wrist curls, 30 pounds, 15; 25 pounds, 2 sets of 15

Crunches, 4 sets of 20
Back arches, 3 sets of 17
Tree, 4 sets of {3 on each leg}

Bicep curls, 20-pound bar, 3 sets of 25
Lateral raise, 5 pounds left hand, 2 pounds right, 2 sets of 15
Hip adduction, 105 pounds, 13, 9
Adjustable row, 80 pounds, 3 sets of 15

Stretches

Comments

Advice sought

[suecochran.livejournal.com]

I have a couple of questions for you. How long have you been working out with weights regularly? Have you ever had a signifigant injury that you had to either stop working out due to, or that you figured out how to keep working out around? I realize that you aren't a medical professional, I just want to know if you've dealt with this yourself or have any anecdotal advice to offer.

I first started to work out with weights around 20 years ago when my college boyfriend got me interested in it. I bought and read a lot of books and magazines about the sport, and I joined a few gyms for a year each before getting really serious in 1987 and aquiring a lifetime membership at Bally's (which was then Jack La Lanne's). There have been times when I've gone four or more times a week religiously for months on end, and other times when I've gone sporadically, and still other times when I've totally ignored the gym for months or even years. I have kept up with my "lifetime membership" because it's really inexpensive (I got locked into a $60.00 annual fee) and since I do that, no matter how much time I let go by without excercising, when I am ready to start again the gym is there for me. I also invested in some free weights and a bench, with an arm curl and a leg station that can be attached to it. All of that is in storage for now.

I started going again to the gym regularly about 3 weeks ago now, and I was feeling really good about it. I did 20 minutes of cardio, and my regular strength training routine four days a week, and then a day or two of just cardio for 30 minutes, either on the recumbent bike or the elliptical trainer.

Trouble is, I've injured my left shoulder. While I don't believe that the original injury was sustained in the gym, it's being aggravated by my workouts now. I saw my nurse practitioner about it this morning, and she referred me to a PT, whom I will be able to make an appointment with in a few days. I didn't remember however to ask her about what to do about working out. I don't know how much knowledge she has about strength training.

I haven't worked out in several days now, and I'm not sure what to do, whether to start working out again but only do cardio, or whether to go back to what I had been doing but only use weights that don't hurt my left shoulder. My immediate intuition is to go back to doing the same routine I was doing but to lower the weights I was using if they hurt my shoulder at all, and just keep doing the other stuff the same as before. I figure if it doesn't hurt I won't be doing any further damage. Oh, and my nurse practitioner told me I should take 3 ibuprofen every 6 to 8 hours. It doesn't hurt at all if I'm just resting, only if I move it, and my range of motion seems to be unaffected, so it's not as bad as the rotator cuff injury I sustained in the fall of 2003 that I got about 6 weeks of PT for and which healed entirely.

Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Re: Advice sought

[redbird]

My immediate thought is, don't do anything that uses the shoulder until you've talked to either the physical therapist or a trainer at the gym. If your gym is anything like mine, you can probably get a trainer to answer questions during non-busy hours, if you can get there then.

My physical therapist instructed me never to do exercises that had me lifting things above 90° with my right shoulder, because it might re-injure the rotator cuff. Not knowing what's wrong with your shoulder, I don't know what you need to avoid.

My non-professional suggestion would be that cardio is okay, lower-body weight exercises are okay (that's stuff with various machines that use your legs), and that you could do things like bicep curls with the right arm only. I'd also avoid crunches for the instant, given my own interactions between those and my rotator cuff injury.

Since you asked, I've been doing this for six years, and currently am going twice a week, that being a frequency I can fit in with the rest of my life (including time online with adrian_turtle.

Re: Advice sought

[suecochran.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. That was my intuition too - to not do any excercise that used the shoulder, but that cardio would be OK, and weight training that targets totally unrelated muscles like biceps and legs would be OK. I'm going to try each excercise that uses the chest and back with VERY light weights and see if they stress the shoulder at all, and if they do, I won't continue with them. I hadn't even thought of crunches - I can see where that might involve the shoulder. Thanks for pointing that out.

My PT didn't give me any advice about using my right shoulder after it got better. I wonder why? So I guess that means you don't do any military presses then? I'm not sure when I will be seeing my PT yet, my nurse practitioner said I'll get the info in the mail, for some reason, instead of handing me a referral. It seems odd, but that's the way they do it there. (shrug)

How did you develop the routine that you use? You must find it beneficial if you've been going for 6 years. That's great :) I basically use the routine that Joyce Vedral lays out in her book "Now or Never". That's a split routine with modified pyramid, so it's 4 days a week of weight training, with a minimum of 3 days of cardio. I don't necessarily do each exact excercise that she reccomends, sometimes I substitute another one, but mostly I do the ones from the book.

Re: Advice sought

[redbird]

How did you develop the routine that you use? You must find it beneficial if you've been going for 6 years.

Trial and error, and trying not to make it too routine. It's driven in part by what hardware the gym I use has. The only definite parts are cardio first, both for warm-up and because the only way I can convince myself to do cardio is by having the fun stuff afterward as a reward; mat work after a bunch of weight machines, because I need to be really warmed up to do crunches and as a useful break; and stretches at the end.

The pattern of calf machine before leg presses is determined by the layout of the gym; some of the random variation is the result of what machines are in use when I get to them.