Afternoon everyone!
My name’s Jamie, I’m 33 years old, and from South Yorkshire in the UK. I’ve trained since I was about 16, and always had a passion for it. I’ve dabbled in bodybuilding and powerlifting, and even did a stint competing in Strongman on an amateur level.
Unfortunately, around 5 years ago, my life was changed massively - my heart started to fail. I spent a few weeks in hospital, not knowing if I’d make it out. Eventually I stabilised and went home, and the following years were very rocky.
Before christmas I finally had the surgery I needed : my aortic valve was replaced, and I had three holes repaired with mesh. My left ventricle is still severely enlarged, but the hope is that it will partially recover over the net few years (otherwise I’ll be having a transplant).
I started doing light cardio about 6 weeks after surgery, then moved onto light weightlifting at around the 3 month mark. It’s been about 6 months now, and I’m at the point where I don’t get much pain from the surgical wound, and I’m feeling a bit better in general, so I’ve moved onto getting some proper work in.
I used to log my workouts on wannabebig, but it seems that it’s dead, so decided on using this site, as I’ve browsed the articles on here quite a bit in the past.
I’m currently weighing around 91kg (down from around 110 last February), and my goal is to get to around 85.
I currently eat low carb all week, with one refeed every other weekend. I know a lot of you won’t be into the low carb thing, but I find it lets me cook tastier meals, which helps me adhere to it.
My new routine, which I started Monday is…
Day 1 - Upper Bench Focus
1a.Flat Bench 3x5
1b.Prone Dumbell Row 3x8
2a.Close Grip Bench 2x8
2b.Dumbell Hammer Curls 2x10
3.Face Pull 2x10
4.Front To Side Raises 2x10
5.Battle Ropes HIIT
Day 2 - Lower Squat Focus
1.Box Jump
2a.Squat 3x5
2b.One Leg Calf Raise 2xmax with bodyweight
3a.Deficit Deadlift 3x8
3b.Leg Raises 2xmax
4.One Leg Extension 2x10
Day 3 - Upper Overhead Focus
1.Hang Clean & Press 3x5
2.Pullups 3x8
3a.Incline Dumbell Bench 3x8
3b.Dumbell Shrugs 2x10
4a.One Arm Dumbell Preacher Curl 2x10
4b.One Arm Dumbell Tricep Extension 2x10
5.Kettlebell Hang Clean & Press For Time
Day 4 - Lower Deadlift Focus
1a.Deadlift 3x5
1b.Side Bends 2x10
2a.Front Squat 3x8
2b.Bodyweight Calf Raise 2xmax
3.Seated Leg Curl 2x10
4.Rowing Machine HIIT
Volume is low due to energy levels, and most lifts are supersetted to try and keep things as brief as possible.
I perform ten minutes of light cardio, some mobility work and light stretching before each session. Steady state cardio is done on off days for heart health, and I stretch the trained bodyparts after each workoout for 3 sets of 30 seconds each muscle.
Thanks for reading!
