Hi,
I’m new to the forum since it’s been re-established, and wanted to ask some advice.
A back injury I sustained in the gym back in June kept me in rehab for over two months. As expected, I lost a lot of muscle mass.
I’m slowly returning to workouts, but would appreciate any advice as to which training programs would be best to start with - it’s as though I’m beginning from scratch. Thanks!
I’ve taken a layoff here and there… and really I just had to take it easy for several weeks, get into a routine, and suddenly the body seems to remember where it was before and gives a lot of progress.
I’m not sure it matters too much what you start with. Ramp it up once you aren’t feeling undue soreness and, of course, play it safe with the back.
Maybe someone else will chip in with some more specific advice.
How about a back injury that caused you to miss five years? That’s me. I tried a comeback earlier in the year, but I failed at it because I went straght back into the basic lifts (squats, cleans, benches). Even though I went light, the limiting factor of my weak, atrophied back muscles made these impossible, as well as hormonal issues.
So in my recent comeback, I joined a gym and for the first month didn't touch a barbell, did just treadmill for cardio 4 days a week, and one machine per bodypart twice a week. My mind said I was undertraining but my body would get tired out just fine. I listened to me back and there was even a few machine exercises that made my back hurt (cable pulley rows for lats, for example), and I stayed away from them.
The second month I introduced variety into cardio, and started SOME barbell work, but did hacks instead of barbell squats, and alternated barbell presses and cleans with machine presses and machine shrugs. Everything kept going great, muscles responding, back fine, felt like a new man.
The third month, however, I got carried away-which is the source of my thread. Don't read it, read Shugart and Robertson and the other smart guys on T-Nation. Seriously.