Sarlacc

Yesterday was pretty sore, Today is super sore. Tomorrow it will taper off greatly. With leg days, its always been that way with me.

And its especially sore this time, because I haven't been in all the much in the past month, and probably a little longer for legs. And I went really hard on Tuesday.

If I was smart I'd just go do 30min on the elliptical to get them warm and moving. But I've been dealing with other shit, so excuses excuses.

Costco

2nd day has always been the worst for me, unless it's still the first few weeks working out in a long time.

Last week was arms for the first time in a couple months and I went overboard. I was unable to fully straighten out my arms for four days.

Mizouse

2nd day is worst for me. 3rd day I'm usually sore and stiff, but able to workout that muscle group again.

I don't really get sore all that much anymore, but stiff legged deadlifts always kills my hams and glutes.

Devil Dog 21

Just squat 3 times a week and you'll never be super sore

Doom878

^Uhhhh. When I squatted twice a week I was crippled all week.

Devil Dog 21

After a couple weeks the soreness goes away. Also helps to make sure you're putting the right food into your body.

Doom878

I did it for 8 weeks and took in my carbs. Then again I was 37. My body hasn't been the same since 35.

Doom878

Random dude who my boy pointed out has shit form on his lifts comes up to me "Hey man where did you get your clips"
Me "ebay for $15"
Him "cool I got blah blah blah leg straps"
Me "WTF are leg straps"
Him "yeah so you can do leg press for when I leg press 2000#"
Me looking at my boy

Mizouse

Mizouse

I'd kind of funny and sad watching/listening to people try and teach someone to squat or deadlift with poor advice.

Doom878

What's the worst thing you've heard?

Yumcha

Saw a guy who was very tough. Yes tough. Lots of tough-looking tattoos.

The gym is in the basement of a high-rise. He's wearing sunglasses. Yo.

Mizouse

Well for squatting some guy was telling the guy to stand wide, like sumo deadlift wide.

another for deadlifts he was telling the guy to shrug at the top of the lift and didn't mention anything about a straight back.

GYac

There is such a thing as a sumo squat- however I've always done those with a kettle bell or dumbbell. I'm not sure about bar-bell or using a ton of weight- at least I've never attempted that.

The deadlift advice sounds just stupid- I'm sure he's the same guy telling the other to hyper-extend his back at the top of the lift as well.

Doom878

Something like

GYac

lol.

RDX10

Well it's been 4 months since I have been in the gym. To say I'm depressed to all hell for losing what I worked really hard for a year straight to get is an understatement. I went from almost having the body I aspired to have for a REALLY long time back to a twig (drop from roughly 185 to 165).

I've been having stomach issues for a while but was able to workout no problem and it got to the point gradually where working out for just 5 minutes made my intestines clamp down like someone put a belt around my stomach and tightened it. It makes breathing difficult and working out while feeling like that extremely difficult. Still trying to figure it out with my stomach doc (head of the GI department too, but he keeps calling me the "mystery man"....not a fun thing to be called in all honesty). Ran MANY MANY blood tests, stool tests, abdominal CT, scope test, xrays, next on the list is a colonoscopy.

I'm starting to consider stress as being the culprit because in all honesty life has been difficult in the last 2 years and a rollarcoaster. Looking back at the times where it peaked and times where it relaxed were always coinciding with periods in my life where I had increased stress. This past december an episode came on that landed me in the ER again and it has been somewhat downhill from there. Finally the last few days I thought about it and it makes sense to me for the most part. It first came about summer of 2015 during a period of intense stress, eased up somewhat but would flare up
during periods of stress every few days or so. Had a really good summer in 2016 and it calmed down and then towards the end of the summer I was EXHAUSTED all the time and this kicked my stress into overdrive again (realized after watching a video possibly on here), It was a combo of sleeping super late and busting my ass at the gym (the fatigue) because it settled down after my sleep schedule got back to place. Then stomach issues picked up again this december and with nothing to distract me (on break from school during that time) it escalated to where I am now.

Sorry for unloading that onto this thread. Just really needed an outlet and this seems the most appropriate without starting my own thread. I'm hoping to work on my stress and taking things step by step and hope by next weekend to start at least lightly which brings me to the whole point of my post. I've been out for so long, I am kind of nervous about getting back in again to be honest.

Doom878

No worries. No need to be nervous, nobody's keeping score. Be happy you can at least go. I got gout in my foot so I can't even step foot into a gym nor walk around normally. Be happy you can at least go and get the gainz that make you feel good. Good luck!

GYac

A few things. Don't be nervous when you get back into it, however remember you may have regressed so start off light and get back into it steadily and you'll be fine kicking ass in no time. I too have struggled with stomach issues which led to periods of time where I was in and out of the gym. Mine is horrid acid reflux. Even with medication my stomach would act up during the gym, to complicate matters I'm now on a medication to help with my testosterone production which a side effect is stomach issues. So I feel your pain. I know this is a cop out, but have your testosterone levels checked. I'm 33 and noticed EXTREME fatigue during the day. I will preface this with the fact that I'm a firefighter so my sleep patters can be fucked up at times. I make an effort to get 6-8 hours every night. I decided to see what was contributing to my fatigue other than some rough nights with limited sleep. Again I will say that I was able to do this for years with no problems, really the past few years it has been bad. Long story short my test levels were in the mid 200s. Normal is 350-1100ish. 350 is normal for a elderly man, from the information I can find I should be in the 500-600 range. Maybe check your hormone levels. Just an option and at worst you get results on all your other stuff so you can see where your at.

So far as the gym goes- take your time getting back into it, the hardest part is the first few weeks. Once you see those Gainz you'll be hooked again. Just don't go balls to the wall, well I would recommend seeing where your at and work from there. Workout like I do- don't pay attention to anyone else there just yourself and focus on form. After I torn my labrum in 2013 I lost almost all I had been working for. I came back into it about 6 months later and wasn't putting up anywhere near the weight I was before. It was depressing. I just had to take it one day at a time and get back at it. You'll do fine!

RDX10

Thank you very much for the encouragement man and also sorry to hear about your foot, how does gout happen and how is it cured? To be honest I am not so much as nervous about having high numbers and comparing myself to others (it is going to suck starting low, but I started off with 5-10 pound dumbells and progressed to 45 in a year so all good). I am more nervous that something is going to happen while I am there, like my intestines are going to clamp down again making me unable to properly workout. Or something silly like my heart isn't fit enough to be pushed. I have no heart issues and I am only 22 and was given a thorough physical yesterday and an all clear. Obviously I'm being over nervous and just need to get in there already but this nervousness stems from one time I was doing overhead barbell flys and then suddenly felt extremely dizzy and like almost passed out. I have no health issues at all, I figured it out when it happened the second time a couple weeks later, it happened because I held my breath and didn;t even realize it. So I started making sure to breathe properly every time and it did not happen again thankfully.

Thank you for the thorough reply, I highly highly appreciate it and it means a lot to me.

I think one of the hardest parts is going to be starting off super light, I was benching 205 pounds at my prime (max weight of roughly 185 pounds so I was proud of myself). So probably going to be benching REALLY light, But I don't care what others think, I care about having the proper form and working out to make myself look and feel better right. I had horrid acid reflux (it comes and goes but is mostly gone thankfully) and it turned out to be caused by my parathyroid (Have you had that checked at all?). The parathyroid controls calcium levels in the body, if you have hyperparathyroidism it causes excess calcium to build up in the body, this buildup causes the stomach to produce excessive acid thus leading to acid reflux. This is why acid reflux meds are proton pump inhibitors (A.K.A stop your stomach from producing positive ions such as Hydrogen ions which increase acidity and calcium in the blood is also a positive ion). Another thing to look at is that your stomach might be under producing acid, read up on it, it sounds crazy but what could be happening is that your body is producing too little acid and the stomach muscle that is supposed to prevent acid from refluxing into your esophagus reacts to acid, if your stomach is making too little it will not close properly. They sell hydrochloric acid capsules in health food stores for this reason. Lastly both smoking and caffeine (Which I assume as a fire fighter you drink a lot of) cause your stomach muscle (responsible for preventing acid from reaching your esophagus) is caused to relax and thus open allowing acid to go out. Sorry for my speel on acid reflux, just that I went through a horrible time with it constantly being told to take zantac, tecta, pantoprazole....etc. Nothing worked.

Hey man, no cop out at all and I appreciate you mentioning it, I actually had all my hormones checked out by a really good endocrinologist (she was the one who discovered my parathyroid problem even though it was clear as day). She asked me specifically about if I get morning wood (tmi sorry) and all this stuff in relation to my testosterone levels and also did a VERY thorough hormone panel. Was thankfully given the all clear there. Besides the fatigue has pretty much abated thank god, it only comes on when I don't sleep well for a few days in a row. Thank you for the gym advice, I plan to start really really light, hopefully I can see some results in a few weeks and it'll be good. If I can get these stomach issues resolved, I will be able to focus in the gym better and lead to even better results hopefully. I just need to learn to listen to my body more.



Again, thank you guys so much for all the help and responses. It really means a lot to me and I really really appreciate it. I haven't been given the easy run at only 22 but hey what doesn't kill you will truly make you stronger.

Doom878

I suspect I got it from one day eating shellfish for lunch and drinking beer all day. Even at 38 I contracted it fairly young. It's hereditary but I don't know who had it in my family. Nothing you need to worry about until it happens. Foot is improving. Hopefully by next week I'm back in the gym.

RDX10

I'm sorry you have to deal with it and really hope you feel better soon. By the way I now remember what gout is because I thought I had it at one point. Iirc it is caused by a build up of uric acid in the body that then forms hard crystals causing the pain. I thought I had it in my knees at one point so the doc did a uric acid screening test. Of course being 22 it wasn't there. I have had a VERY rough couple of years man. Here's to a better one for both of us!

Doom878

Thank you for the kind words. My doc says it typically starts in the toe, goes to the ankle, and then the farthest is the knee. But then again you feel atypical :/

Mizouse

RDX10

Well I started (super super super light) on saturday and today was day 2. Unfortunately my stomach is still clamping horribly and it's making it so hard because when it happens I literally feel like I am suffocating because it makes it very hard to breathe. Yes I have been seeing MULTIPLE docs and no luck. What I do know is that despite how scary and real it feels, I do have oxygen and it isn't real.

I'm starting to wonder if maybe my stomach has reduced motility and obviously the exercise causes blood to be remapped towards the limbs and skin and away from the intestines causing the clamping and pain to occur.

I'll keep working on working out and hopefully soon I can be able to lift normally again. I'm starting to also consider maybe I am getting anxious that my stomach will clamp down so it is clamping down and it's a cycle that feeds itself. When this all started 2 years ago, it would not be affected by exercise at all, it was random. That kind of gives credibility to the anxiety and stress component.

Doom878

Try exercising at your house. Bodyweight stuff. Maybe when you're tensing it's causing the issue and isn't mental after all.

Speaking of lifting, I'm going after work today. I think I'm like 90% cured with some slight soreness if I step weird. Today's squats so I'll focus on my midfoot which is normal and not go apeshit.

RDX10

I am glad you are feeling better man! Let us know how it goes! Don't push yourself, you don't want to make it flare up.

In terms of myself, it is absolutely caused by muscle tension, but stress can cause the muscles to be super tense (you know how you can't eat when you are really upset?).

But I was doing some reading last night and a couple things really stuck out to me. The first one being that overhydration can lead to being bloated as well it also causes digestion to slow down immensely causing a bunch of other uncomfortable symptoms and as we all know, working out diverts blood away from the digestive system (which is why we get nauseous or cramps if we work out too soon after a meal).

For the past couple of years I have been HEAVILY drinking water, not because I am thirsty, but because I just got a habit of keeping a bottle of water on me at all times so I drink water out of boredom really. TMI but I often pee 100% clear, so very certain I am over drinking. My water bottle can hold about 800mls and I drink it about 4-5 times a day (some days more). I never realized until I thought about it yesterday. So what if me drinking so much water, coupled with eating within a couple hours of workout AND drinking during the workout is causing me the bloating and cramping during the workout. Like my digestion is already super slow because of excess water consumption, but then I am also working out on top and it's like pretty much stopping my system from working which leads to the pain and bloating and discomfort? So today I have been limiting my water intake, I also ate lunch an hour ago and I'm going to wait a couple more hours before I hit the gym. It may take a few more days for my body to adjust to reduced water but I am really hopeful.

I have the literal head of the GI depertment following me and he has been completely stumped. I wouldn't be surprised if it was something simple like this. Here's hoping!

Costco

Fack. I'm scared of growing old. I love beer but I do drink a lot of water on a daily basis, for general wellbeing, as well as a morbid fear of kidney stones.

Hope it doesn't flare up again Doom. I used to be able to drink heavily, different liquors and beer and have very little to no hangover... eat ice cream and drink milkshakes with little to no side effects... never need to stretch when I exercised... then I turned 25.

Mizouse

Lucky you, I've always had to watch what I ate. just never did.

as for stretching, I still don't that often. But I try to because im turning 33 soon

Doom878

Workout went good. Set 4 rep 4 leaned a little too much on my big toe so didn't do rep 5. Felt good enough to even go with my gf to walk the dog. My foot was more tender from that but it's ok today. Probably won't walk today. Squatting felt so great after 2 weeks Thanks for the kind words all

Doom878

Hmm I drink a pretty decent amount of water and pee clear as well. But hey who knows.

Damn I just remembered my doc said that if I get gout a lot I could get kidney stones and that's wayyyyyyyyyyy worse.

Trust me you should. Will help you loosen up too and improve lifts.

Mizouse

Costco

Be careful man. I can tell you I've never seen my dad cry or even scream from pain... but when he had blood clots in his bladder, it was terrifying. I imagine blood clots aren't as hard as kidney stones, but they were numerous. Scared me shitless.

GYac

A friend of mine had similar symptoms and ended up having crohns. Im sure they checked for that already, but worth mentioning.

Doom878

I was thinking that as well but they had to have ruled it out.

oo7spy

I didn't read all the posts because they were too long, but sustained abdominal pain that feels like bloating can be from ulcers. The ulcers can also cause referred pain which is where an issue in one part of the body affects nerves that cause pain in a totally different area.

My wife has an esophageal ulcer at the moment, and it was causing pain all the way down her left arm. I have had stomach ulcers eventually put me in the ER because I was concerned I was suffering from a trapped gallstone in the bile duct after 5 days of immense and constant pain.

Rapture

I may have already posted this before, but has anyone ever been to the gym and had old people just watch you lift? Just stare at you intently and not look away no matter what you do? Normally if someone is staring at you, you look back and make eye contact, they recognize their rudeness and look away, right? Not these old people. They just stare like you're doing the most bizarre thing in the world to them. Like they've never seen a guy do cable rows before.

Doom878

Maybe he's got brain issues? Weird he would stay staring.

RDX10

Thanks for the suggestion, that has been ruled out.

Thanks for this man. I already had an endescope completed and it came back clear. No other tests (such as reduced iron) indicate intestinal ulcers either. So sadly (maybe not sad) that's not it either.


I have some good news.

Good news is that reducing my water intake, chewing my food way more/eating slower, and avoiding dairy has helped me immensely. I would say a greater than 50% improvement most of the time.
In terms of the Gym I have been going semi-consistently for 2-3 weeks now and it was a very hard start (could only do 30 mins max before my stomach was too upset) and I would leave with an irritated throat and just overall feeling like crap. Yesterday managed to do the whole hour and left feeling great, zero stomach issues at all as a result of working out. What I realized I am doing is literally clamping down on my stomach while lifting, even when walking around I subconsciously pull in my stomach (like doom mentioned above) and this has caused me a lot of issues. For whatever reason when I lift I suck in my stomach so I am consciously relaxing my stomach and it's helping a lot.

The bad news is that I still have moments where I have to deal with stomach issues and I would be going to the gym consistently if there wasn't days where my stomach was not cooperating (like today...damn cheese sandwhich). But I am going to keep trying!

Anyways I genuinely appreciate all the pointers and suggestions from everyone. Sorry for not coming back and responding sooner. I wanted to try and not speak too soon. Hoping I have not already done that.

Rapture

Somebody suggested to me that old people don't really get out much, and they take up any chance at socializing they can. It might be some goofy way of trying to get people to chat, I dunno.