My Body is Dying!!!
After four months on a mostly vegan diet and 40min/Day walking plan, my weightloss had hit a plateau. Sure, I've lost 33lbs from 283lbs to 250lbs, and 6 inches around my waist from 49" to 43", but I've hit a plateau. So I'm back in the Gym and modifying my Diet. Today is Day Three. Two days back into working out again and my body is aching like I fell down a mountain! Which makes this a perfect time to talk about DOMS.
When you work out you get sore. Duh. But that's a good thing. It means you're putting in a good effort. We don't work out to waste our time, right? So sore is good! Pain and injury are something else. When you really hurt yourself in the Gym, you know it right then and there. It's a pain that won't simply fade away. Many beginners will work out a few times, feel great, then a few days later they wake up sore and cry, "Oh, I hurt myself!" I'm never working out again!" When in reality they're just experiencing DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. At this point, the worst thing they could do is quit exercising entirely. Here's a full description from WebMD so you can better understand DOMS.
When you work out you get sore. Duh. But that's a good thing. It means you're putting in a good effort. We don't work out to waste our time, right? So sore is good! Pain and injury are something else. When you really hurt yourself in the Gym, you know it right then and there. It's a pain that won't simply fade away. Many beginners will work out a few times, feel great, then a few days later they wake up sore and cry, "Oh, I hurt myself!" I'm never working out again!" When in reality they're just experiencing DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. At this point, the worst thing they could do is quit exercising entirely. Here's a full description from WebMD so you can better understand DOMS.
Today is Back & Biceps Day. You can easily hurt yourself here as well. So go slow and always use perfect form. Here's my workout:
Treadmill or Bike: 10-20 minutes. Easy warm-up pace. Then stretch.
Treadmill or Bike: 10-20 minutes. Easy warm-up pace. Then stretch.
Weighted Pull-Ups. But because I'm fat and can't do ANY pull-ups (let alone weighted pull-ups), I'm doing Lat Pull-Downs. They're easier, less, dangerous, and you get to sit down! Four Sets. 12 Reps. Rest 60 seconds between sets. The 10th, 11th, and 12th reps should be tough and bring the Burn. If you're not feeling the Burn, increase the weight. Good for your Back.
What the heck is The Burn!? The Burn is when you workout hard enough to force blood through your muscles and body at a higher and stronger rate. Thereby flushing Lactic Acid out of your muscles, into your Bloodstream, and finally out through your urine. I call it Cleaning House. It's also when you make microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. When you sleep (7-9 hours per night), these tears repair themselves as an instinctive "survival method." This causes them to get bigger, stronger, and continue pushing out all the junk from your muscles and system even when you're not working out! That's called The Afterburner Effect. And it's awesome. One hour of working out gives you 24 hours of Fat Burning! If you are trying to lose weight or build muscle, and do not feel the burn, you are pretty much just wasting your. Changes are made in the Burn. So always workout with intensity!
Dumbell Single Arm Row. That's a mouthful! Four Sets. 12 Reps. 60 second break between sets. Don't forget to stretch before and after each set. Good for your Back.
Bodyweight Rows or Australian Pull-ups. Four Sets. Ten Reps. Feel the Burn on the 8th, 9th, and 10th rep. Rest 60 seconds between sets. Good for your Back.
That's it for Back. If you don't feel this tomorrow, increase your weight.
Curls. Everyone's favorite workout is always Curls. Even people that have never worked out know what this is. But for variety's sake, I threw in a few workouts that are lesser known to amateurs-but are staples in the Bodybuilding world. Go slow & easy on these or you are guaranteed to injure yourself.
Incline Dumbell Curl. Awesome for building you Bi's and makes your arms look good in a t-shirt. Four Sets. Ten Reps. Rest 60 seconds between sets.
Bicep Circuit. We're almost done! The last workout is a Superset. That's where you combine two or more exercises into one flowing workout. It keeps your heart rate up, keeps your muscles flexed and forcing blood to flow, and you burn calories and fat like crazy! The last workout should bring you to near exhaustion. You'll do the first set of all three of these exercises back-to-back without stopping. Four Sets. 8 Rep for each exercise. Once you've completed the first set, take a 60 second break and shake-shake-shake your arms to get the blood (and strength) back in them. Here we go:
Sitting One Arm Concentration Curls. Sit on a bench, hold one Dumbell between your legs with your elbow against your inner thigh just above your knee. Lift slowly, and lower slowly to starting point. Looks cool, huh!
Standing Cross Body Curl. Don't let the picture fool you. You won't have a blank face through these!
And finally, Standing Pronated Barbell Curls. Which is just a fancy way of saying palms face down. Works your forearms and destroys calories.
That's it! Great workout! Enjoy your DOMS!
Cardio. Low intensity Bike or Treadmill for 60 minutes.
Thanks for reading and have a great workout! Leave your questions & comments below.
-Charles
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