Marie's walking - iron for rehab

[mcbourque]

Ok start of the journal here:

47 - 5'3" - about 125 lbs - mom of two

My goal is to walk normally. For that I need to get stronger.

Was born with hip displasia (missing half my hip joint and have no cartilage there). I had no problem after surgery at 4 yo and walked fine until I turned 45 after I stayed sedentary for a 2-3 years. Before that I had been lifting since I was 16 (no serious bodybuilding but free weights all my life) and was a fitness instructor for 15 years until I turned 42 and stopped everything.

8 months ago, physiotherapists put me on a cane because of the pain and told me not to lift heavy. Worse idea ever. My GP is a sport doctor. After an MRI, he told me to get rid of the cane and back to exercising.

I'm on week 7 of training.

For the last 6 weeks, I've been doing this upper/lower split 3-6 times a week. (30 min at the gym - just weights- no cardio)

Upper:

- Push-up
- Bench press
- Bent-over dumbbell rows
- Overhead dumbbell triceps press
- Alternating dumbbell bicep curls
- 21s front/side raises and upright rows (dumbbell)

Lower:

- Leg press
- Smith squats
- Smith lunges
- Hip thrust with bar
- SLDL
- Plies squats

I usually do 3 sets of 8-15 rep depending.

A lot of my lower body exercise choice has to do with also increasing range of motion of the hip joint.

I'm very hopeful because I feel stronger when I walk and I made the following progress in 6 weeks:

Bench: 65 - 75 lbs
Smith Squats: 95 - 105 lbs
SLDL: 0 - 50 lbs (I started not able to go through the motion at all.

I'm a teacher and on my feet all day. I'm in pain most of the time. Take Aleve to deal with that when I need to. My doctor says I defeated the odds my whole life. Now I'll accept the limping if I have to but only once I go back the weight and strength I had when I was 42. Right now I'm convinced that I'm just out of shape

I'm trying to find my maintenance so I've been eating 1650 cal for almost 3 weeks now after doing 1150 from fitness pal and getting no energy and feeling faint during the day. Nutrition is a work in progress.

I'm on a slightly new split program now which I'll post this week.

Woah this is a long post but I guess my goal's a little complicated

[mcbourque]

Gym this morning - day 3 this week:

Today was upper body. Week 1 into my new program (7 weeks from start)

3 sets of each with 6-15 reps depending, except for push-up warm-up. (##) is the highest weight

Decline push-up warm-up - 31 reps
Bench press (75 lbs)
Bar bent-over row (60 lbs)
Barbell Crushers (30 lbs)
Dumbbell shoulder press (20 lbs)
Alt. dumbbell bicep curls (20 lbs)
Incline reverse ab curls w/ plate (25 lbs)

Nutrition:
I'm about 3 weeks into eating at 1650 cal a day. My weight seems to stabilize at 125 with very wide changes up and down (122-127 lbs). A couple more days and I might cut down to 1550 cal.

[Hibiscus09]

Welcome to the journal seciton!

Nice job on your workouts. Sounds like you're a strong an determined person. Glad you listened to your GP.

We're about the same size. I'm 5'4" and 123 to 124lbs. I also have the variations and just assume it's because I'm past 50 and must be approaching menopause. I saw a jump last week from 121lbs one day to 127lbs the next. Horrifying! lol I just eat healthy and try not to be too concerned with the fluctuations. Your caloric intake (1,650) isn't really high given your activity.

What made you stop everything at 42? I lifted heavy from the time I was early 30s to late 40s (even did a couple of fitness contests) and then I kind of stopped and decided walking the dog was enough. Burnout I guess. I'm back at it now.

[mcbourque]

Welcome to the journal seciton!

Nice job on your workouts. Sounds like you're a strong an determined person. Glad you listened to your GP.

We're about the same size. I'm 5'4" and 123 to 124lbs. I also have the variations and just assume it's because I'm past 50 and must be approaching menopause. I saw a jump last week from 121lbs one day to 127lbs the next. Horrifying! lol I just eat healthy and try not to be too concerned with the fluctuations. Your caloric intake (1,650) isn't really high given your activity.

What made you stop everything at 42? I lifted heavy from the time I was early 30s to late 40s (even did a couple of fitness contests) and then I kind of stopped and decided walking the dog was enough. Burnout I guess. I'm back at it now.

Hey Hibiscus!
Thanks for dropping by
Oh no menopause! I'm not ready for that! But yeah went from 122 to 127 in 3 days. It was really hard to stay at 1650 because part of me wanted to drop fast and go down to 1200 (fitness pal had me at 1150 - crazy)
But I love have the energy.

Been lifting since I was 16. I had a job as a fitness director at a gym for a while, and I stop the weights at 42 when we moved from RI to Seattle. Changed jobs. Got super busy and never found a new gym.

You only know how fit you are when you quit doing it!
Nice to meet someone with similar profile

[mcbourque]

Rest day for me today. Looks like I'll get a 5xweek gym this week.

Nutrition:
It's been 3 weeks today that I've eaten at 1650 cal and I seem to maintain at 125 lbs.

My calculations gave me 1750 for maintenance so it would still technically take 35 days to loose a pound.

I'm 10 pounds overweight so I plan to drop down to 1600 this week then 1550 the next and see what happens.

I've been trying to get at least 90g of proteins a day. I'm trying to be at 45g of fat but I seem to stay at 55g without trying so I'll stay there for now.

So 1600 cal, >90g proteins, <55g fat.

Diet so far has looked like this to give above requirement:

(Pretty much the same every day during the week - with the job I'm on autopilot all day)

Breakfast:
- 1/2 Oatmeal-protein breakfast cookie from local bakery
- 1 hard boiled egg
- 1/2 banana

Snack:
- apple
- light cheese string

Lunch
- pre-made frozen homemade meal with usually chicken or fish or beans with rice or sweet potato
- Baggie of cut veggies
- 100% whole fruit strip

Snack
-1/2 cup grapes
- 7 almonds
- 1/2 protein shake (milk and powder)

Dinner
- another homemade frozen meal
- 100 cal Greek yogurt

[kimm4]

It's always nice to see new journals started welcome.

Where the heck are you getting the idea that you're 10 lbs overweight? You're at a very healthy weight for you height. If your focus is to get stronger, keep your calories around maintenance and hit those weights hard. Anytime we increase calories, there's always water weight fluctuations. Give your body time to adjust to the new calories and don't sweat it.

Your calories seem low. I'd have your maintenance somewhere around 1900-2000 easy.

Good luck to you!

[mcbourque]

It's always nice to see new journals started welcome.

Where the heck are you getting the idea that you're 10 lbs overweight? You're at a very healthy weight for you height. If your focus is to get stronger, keep your calories around maintenance and hit those weights hard. Anytime we increase calories, there's always water weight fluctuations. Give your body time to adjust to the new calories and don't sweat it.

Your calories seem low. I'd have your maintenance somewhere around 1900-2000 easy.

Good luck to you!

Hey Kimm
Thank you so much for your advice. I might be too low on cal. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Maybe I should stay at 1650, I seem to be good there, making gains, not hungry, getting through my demanding day job.

115 is the weight I was at from 25-42 yo and when nothing hurt. I thought maybe the excess weight I added on was hard on my wrecked joint. Now the thing is if I strengthen the muscle maybe my joint can carry the extra 10 pounds.
I just don't know. It's all an experiment right now.

Thanks for the nice encouragement!

[kimm4]

Hey Kimm
Thank you so much for your advice. I might be too low on cal. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Maybe I should stay at 1650, I seem to be good there, making gains, not hungry, getting through my demanding day job.

115 is the weight I was at from 25-42 yo and when nothing hurt. I thought maybe the excess weight I added on was hard on my wrecked joint. Now the thing is if I strengthen the muscle maybe my joint can carry the extra 10 pounds.
I just don't know. It's all an experiment right now.

Thanks for the nice encouragement!

I don't feel the extra weight is what hurt you...that's a perfectly healthy weight. I think being sedentary for a number of years was the bigger problem. I immediately think of that commercial..."A body in motion tends to stay in motion." When we don't stay active and get in some normal daily movement...we feel somewhat stiff, sore and rusty...

Stay consistent with your weights, you'll get stronger and you'll notice a huge difference. You've done it before, so it's not going to take long to get it back.

I would suggest slowly bumping up 100 calories a week till you hit your true maintenance.

Just monitor your progress and you'll be fine.

[mcbourque]

I don't feel the extra weight is what hurt you...that's a perfectly healthy weight. I think being sedentary for a number of years was the bigger problem. I immediately think of that commercial..."A body in motion tends to stay in motion." When we don't stay active and get in some normal daily movement...we feel somewhat stiff, sore and rusty...

Stay consistent with your weights, you'll get stronger and you'll notice a huge difference. You've done it before, so it's not going to take long to get it back.

I would suggest slowly bumping up 100 calories a week till you hit your true maintenance.

Just monitor your progress and you'll be fine.

Thanks for that advice
I can't say no to eat more! I remember being fine on 1800 in the past. At my strongest and stable.
I had the bad idea last Spring of trying myfitnesspal which told me to eat at 1150. I would stick with it for a few days, see stars at work from exhaustion then stuff myself in the week-end. Such a dumb idea.
Anyway, will keep with the higher cal, work-out hard, increase slow and monitor. Definitely worth a try.
Thanks again

[mcbourque]

Day 4 week 1 of new program

This morning was lower body.

I was on super pain through most of this. Took an Aleve before the gym but it kicked in only after my workout.
Increased the weight on the leg press though so progress.

So... 8-15 reps- 3 sets depending on exercise:

- Seated leg press (80 lbs without sled - up 10 lbs today)
- Smith Squat - 115 lbs with bar
- SLDL - 50 lbs bar
- Weighted Hip thrust - 40 lbs bar
- Right leg step-up (I use the spotting platform on the incline bench - first time not needing to hold on something!)
- plies squats with 25 lbs dumbbell
- supine leg raised

Painful but toughed it up. I'm ok now

[Hibiscus09]

Sorry you were in pain. Nice job on your workout!

[mcbourque]

Sorry you were in pain. Nice job on your workout!

Thanks for the encouragement
Pain is better than not walking lol

[mcbourque]

Saturday morning workout:

Pain was low - maybe I'm still on that dose of Aleve from yesterday.

Day 5 - week 7
I did 4 days already this week so today was a mix of things.

- Push-up (1x32 reps)
- Bench Press (heaviest 80 lbs)
- Bent over row (heaviest 70 lbs)
- Right leg step up 3 set - 15 rep (no assistance-no weight)
- Attempted pull-up 2x10 reps (I moved by about 2 inches or so -lol)
- Dips 2x10
- Deadlift 3 sets at 65 lbs (Stepped away from the smith machine today for the rack for the first in decades)


Nutrition:
Easing off Saturday: I plan to stay on 1650 cal today but not worry too much about protein and fat and eat what I feel like, had a bowl of oatmeal at the coffee shop for breakfast (yum!) and will probably have whatever pizza my husband is making today for a family movie night.

My weight seems to stay stable...

[mcbourque]

Sunday is rest day. It's also cooking day.

Spent some time prepping food for the week:
- 6 hard-boiled eggs
- 5 baggies of raw veggies
- 5 baggies of grapes.

12 individual meals lunch and dinner to be frozen - I made:
- tilapia with roasted grape tomatoes on sticky rice
- peanut sauce stir-fry with baby scallops on sticky rice
-light fettuccini Alfredo with ham

My hip flexor is still super tight. I think I need more stretching.
And pain, yeah still pain, but stronger.

[mcbourque]

Week 8 - Day 1

Upper body:

Decline push-up warm-up
1x32reps

Bench press
1x10 70 lbs
1x8 75 lbs
1x6 80 lbs

Bar bent-over row
3x10 60 lbs

Barbell Crushers
3x10 30 lbs

Dumbbell shoulder press
2x10 20 lbs
1x8 22.5 lbs

Alt. dumbbell bicep curls
3x6 20 lbs

Incline reverse ab curls w/ plate
3x16 25 lbs

Feeling a little blah on the workout today somehow, but hey got it done!

[mcbourque]

Week 8 - day 3

Leg day today.

I didn't get to everything because I had my kid with me. He's 13 and I'm showing him around the weight room, made him a basic full body program that he tries to do 2 times a week. Mostly these days he really wants to come but lacks the "get up early discipline and workout-out" discipline. So it's a hit ir miss.

- Seated leg press
3x10 80 lbs w/o sled

- Smith Squat
3x10 115 lbs with bar

- SLDL
3x12 50 lbs bar

- Weighted Hip thrust
1x15 40 lbs bar

- Right leg step-up
3x10

Mostly right now I'm working on increasing the ROM of my leg exercises, squat deeper, go lower on the stiffies, slowly get higher platforms on the step-up.

My right hip flexor somehow shortened while trying to avoid the pain over the years and it is taking a while to get the ROM back.

I should stretch more.

[HoosierHardGain]

With Kimm and Hibby giving you advice, there certainly isn't much I can add other then "best of luck!"

[mcbourque]

With Kimm and Hibby giving you advice, there certainly isn't much I can add other then "best of luck!"

Thanks for the good wishes Hoosier!

I'm very fortunate for Kimm and Hibby's advice. I feel I'm on the right path for the first time in years.

[mcbourque]

Week 8 Day 3

Today was "active" rest day at the gym.
I just felt I needed a day rest between lifting upper then lower body, so today I just did:

- 10 min practice walking on the treadmill (supported)
- various right hip flexor stretches
- DB plies squat from left from yesterday
3x12 (25 lbs)

Nutrition

It's been 4 weeks on 1650 kcal now and I'm starting to feel hungry, and a bit dizzy at times during the day (I teach middle school) and I think it may be a good time to go up by an extra 50 kcal. So I'm thinking of going for the following for a couple of week:

Kcal - 1700 (up 50kcal)
Proteins - at least 90g (same as before)
Fat - about 55g (same as before)

Not sure if I should pay attention to water intake...

[mcbourque]

Week 8 - Day 4

Upper body:

Decline push-up warm-up
1x33

Bench press
1x10 70 lbs
1x8 75 lbs
1x9 80 lbs

Bar bent-over row
3x10 70 lbs

Barbell Crushers
1x10 30 lbs
2x6 40 lbs

Dips off bench 1x20

Dumbbell shoulder press
2x6 22.5 lbs
1x10 20 lbs

Alt. dumbbell bicep curls
2x7 20 lbs
1x6 20 lbs

[mcbourque]

WEEK 8 - DAY 5

Lower body:

Really good morning leg workout - but really tough end of the day got both leg. Sitting with an ice pack on my left knee today. School day:1 - Marie:0

But stronger and small increase in ROM this morning:

- Seated leg press
3x10 80 lbs w/o sled

- Smith Squat
3x10 125 lbs with bar (up 10 lbs)

- SLDL
3x12 50 lbs bar

- Weighted Hip thrust
1x15 40 lbs bar

- Right leg step-up with 5lbs dumbbells
3x10
(the step up is really good for the muscle around my bad right hip but not so good on my left knee. Not sure what to do with that.)

- plies squats
3x12 25 lbs dumbbell

Trying to keep the reps high since I'm really working on ROM right now.

[mcbourque]

Week 8 - day 6

Definitely suffering from DOMS in the legs from my last lower body session. It's been a really long while since I felt it that bad.
I definitely can't get away with one day rest anymore and lift more then 4 days a week.

So I did go to the gym but stuck to leg stretching today.

I've been wondering what to do with my extra gym days and I think my hip would benefit from 2 days of leg stretching to increase hip ROM.

So I designed a 30 min leg stretch routine and I'll stick with it twice a week for the next 4 weeks, see if it helps.

Program so far is

Mon: upper
Tues: lower
Wed: leg stretch
Thurs: upper
Fri: lower
Sat: leg stretch
Sun: rest

Kcal: 1700
Proteins: 100g (0.8x125)
Fat: 55g (0.45x55g)

I seem to be hitting fat and proteins numbers without trying too hard. Weights stays at 125.

Hip measurement is going down though. Lost about an inch in 8 weeks. And I'm starting to see my quads in my right weak leg.

Edit: ok so I'm reading up on DOMS and research has changed since I took my cert. Seems like what I have it just muscle soreness. Nothing serious

[mcbourque]

Mon: upper
Tues: lower
Wed: more lower and stretch
Thurs: upper
Fri: lower
Sat: new stretch routine
Sun: rest

Cooked food for the week:

- Usual eggs, baggies of fruit and veggies
- oatmeal meat loaf and roasted tomatoes (6 serv)
- scallops over tomato and rice (4 serv)
- spinach-salmon casserole (4 serv)

All set for week 9

[mcbourque]

Week 9 - day 1

Not my best health today but made it through anyway. Didn't try to add weight though, just stuck with the regular.

Upper body:

Decline push-up warm-up
1x33

Bench press
1x10 70 lbs
1x8 75 lbs
1x8 80 lbs

Bar bent-over row
3x10 70 lbs

Barbell Crushers
3x10 30 lbs

Dumbbell shoulder press
3x10 22.5 lbs
(Looks like I'm up 2.5 lbs now)

Alt. dumbbell bicep curls
3x17.5 lbs
(Trainer had some guy she trains on multireps with the 20 lbs dumbbells, so no chance to get them )

Now I think I'm fully down with something and may have to call in sick at work tomorrow. Not sure- I hate doing that!
No gym tomorrow for sure though, my ride can't make it. Oh well...

[mcbourque]

Week 9 - rest (sick) day

Woke up with a bad head cold and took the day off work.
This was a planned off gym day so not bad but did endulge in a day feeling sorry for myself and Netflix watching with bread and Nutella.
Adding that to my food count so I'll stay within the macros for today.
Hope to make the gym tomorrow.

[mcbourque]

Training with that cold

WEEK 8 - DAY 2

Lower body:

Still with the blah cold so I stuck with my usual and didn't try to increase the weight today.

- Seated leg press
3x10 80 lbs w/o sled

- Smith Squat
3x10 125 lbs with bar

- SLDL
3x12 50 lbs bar

- Weighted Hip thrust
1x15 40 lbs bar

- Right leg step-up with 5lbs dumbbells
3x10

- plies (sumo) squats
3x10 25 lbs dumbbell

I'm glad I pushed myself to do it anyway.

[mcbourque]

Week 9 - stretch day

Still with that cold. Good that today was stretch day. Made it to the gym for a 30 min new routine stretching legs.

I'm trying to get a trainer at my gym to take my %BF with calipers and it's proven to be difficult.

Trainers want to meet but only for a first workout. Not sure if they will do it. Real bummer.

[mcbourque]

Week 9 - day 3

Upper body:

Decline push-up warm-up
1x35

Bench press
1x10 70 lbs
1x10 75 lbs
1x9 80 lbs

Bar bent-over row
3x10 70 lbs

Dumbbell shoulder press
3x10 22.5 lbs

Alt. dumbbell bicep curls
2x6 20lbs
1x7 20lbs

Bench dip with plate
1x20 0lbs
1x10 5lbs
1x12 5lbs

Back extensions with plate
1x20 0lbs
2x15 10 bs

Been 4 weeks at 1650-1700 kcal - weight super steady at 125 still.
Progress feels slow!!!

[mcbourque]

WEEK 9 DAY 4 - Lower body:

Feeling much better today and somehow feeling strong!

- Seated leg press
3x10 90 lbs w/o sled (up 10lbs!)

- Smith Squat
3x10 125 lbs with bar

- SLDL
3x12 50 lbs bar

- Weighted Hip thrust (I'm getting bored of this one)
1x15 40 lbs bar

- Right leg step-up with 5lbs dumbbells
3x10

- plies (sumo) squats
3x10 25 lbs dumbbell

Really crappy pic but wanted to try to embeded image thing (and this so not the best use of my time right now lol)

Me at the gym today

[mcbourque]

Week 9

Rest day today and making food for the week.

Made the usual veggy and fruit bags, and boiled 7 eggs.

Today was simple cooking since I still have food from the last two weeks in the freezer:
- Hoisin chicken stir-fry over couscous (4 serv)
- Tilapia over roasted tomatoes and couscous

Still trying to wrap my mind with the fact that it is ok to stay at 125. I've been trying to go down for so long. But my goal is to walk, therefore get strong legs. I think my body is loving the extra food right now.

It's been 5 weeks so I'll stick with it for a while - see what happens.