First gym session in 6 weeks!

It’s been a massive day. So much so I’ll be struggling to keep awake this afternoon! I started the day with my usual exercises in the morning along with 3 x 10 straight leg lifts – these are getting easier by the day which is great.  I then packed my backpack for the gym and was driven in to work as usual. I decided to walk the 500 or so meters to the gym without a walking stick figuring it would be good for my leg. It was tough work especially carrying the backpack as well and I even had to stop for a break sitting on a bench when I was half way there!  The gym session itself was tough work but great – it’s fantastic to be back!

It was good to see familiar faces and a few asked how I was going. After a bit of a chat I got straight into some upper body working doing the following:

1)      Back - Lat pull down 3 x 10

2)      Chest – Flat bench press 3 x10 (was happy I was able to get up to 80kgs on this despite 6 weeks off, better than I expected!)

3)      Chest – Fly Machine 3 x 10

4)      Shoulders – Dumbbells overhead press 3 x 8 (15 kg dumbbells)

5)      Shoulders – Dumbbell lateral raises 3 x 12 (8 kg dumbbells)

6)      Biceps – seated dumbbell curls alternating 3 x 12 (15 kg dumbbells)

I didn’t have enough time to do my triceps but they got a decent workout from the flat bench press and overheard press. I’m planning to get back to my full 3 day program next week along with all the leg work. As for the leg work today I felt I did well considering the walk and upper body work out. I measured my legs as I was interested to see how much size I had lost and my measurements were as follows:

Leg	Quad	Calf
Right (operated leg)	54cm	37cm
Left	58cm	39cm

It was a bit of a shock as at my peak my quads were around 62cm and my calves were 42cms. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me! I also weighed myself for the first time since the original operation and now weight 95.5kgs, approximately 2.5kgs lighter than before the op.

For legs at the gym today I did the following:

1)      Quad tensing lying down – 1 set of 10

2)      Straight leg raises – 3 sets of 10

3)      One legged squats (1/4) – 3 sets of 6

4)      Exercise ball on wall – 4 sets of 10 (6 sec squeeze)

I also did some ab work on the exercise ball and walked back to work. All up it was a 1.5 hour workout! I plan on doing another 10 mins on the bike tonight (did 12 minutes last night) along with my usual exercises. I am also planning to get into the pool tomorrow to do some walking, more partial squats and some controlled leg swings as advised by my physio.

I just hope I didn’t overdo it today but the knee is not complaining yet thank god!