Hey guys, after being off and on this site for years I’ve decided to start a log, complete with pictures.
I have a bunch of physical issues, mainly Pectus Excavatum which I only recently discovered. I have no idea why I’ve never been diagnosed as it is pretty obvious. I can only guess that the doctors I had, never really cared or maybe they didn’t know their shit. I have no clue.
Anyhow, you’ll see it in the pictures at the bottom but here are my goals for training:
Raise the sternum!
This is by far my most pressing goal. I don’t want to die because my chest is caving in on itself.
Get to 190lbs with 10% body fat.
This is my overall goal, but because of my condition, I’ll have to train within the following parameters:
I’ll have to do exercises that target the muscles that will bring up the sternum.
I’ll have to monitor myself to make sure I’m not endangering myself at the gym, which will make it hard to really push myself but it is what it is. Apparently Pectus Excavatum can make training hard and even dangerous because the chest bone puts pressure on the heart and lungs.
So there it is. I’m going to my doctor tomorrow to ask him what I can do and why he never diagnosed me with this.
I’ll devise a training regimen tomorrow and run it past you guys but like I said, the exercises will have to raise the sternum. Not just make my chest LOOK better, no, the exercises must actually help lift the bone and relieve my heart and lungs of any pressure.
I appreciate any help. I want to overcome this without surgery, but I also want to be realistic and not just put on muscle that will be for looking better only. (Hope I’ve hammered that point home enough lol)
I don’t know if it’s the angle of the pics or what, but it looks to me like you need to work on that APT you got going on there. Does anyone else think this?
It’s not. When I first started out, I thought I had a concave chest… (Literally just searched ‘concave chest’ and it’s what you claim to have haha) I also had severe asthma, which has gone away now, but it sidelined me for a week or two in college and had me visit the ER hundreds of times because I couldn’t breathe. Additionally, I had a doctors note saying I couldn’t do long jogs, only shorter sprints. Fortunately, back then I didn’t have WebMD telling me how I’m going to die. I just had a bodybuilder friend who pushed me. Never once thought of it as an excuse, just kept pushing.
I’d prefer seeing you starting off with a press.
Also what about shoulders and arms?And why have a day deticated to core work.Here’s my suggestion
Day 1
Squats 12-18 total reps over the course of 3 sets
Front squats 30-60 total reps over the course of 4 sets
Hypers 30-60 reps over the course of 4 sets
Calves if you want cause why nat
1-2 ab exercises
What I meean by ‘‘12-18 reps over the course of 3 sets’’
You put a weight in the bar,do 1 set of as many reps as possible stopping 1 rep short of failure,rest,do 1 more set,rest,do 1 more and try to get 12-18 total reps with that weight
Next week you either up the weight or go back to a weight you did for,let’s say 15 reps and try to get it for 16+
Just finished working out, my cardio was the following:
Kicked it off with:
55lb KB swings - 50 swings
75lb EZ curls - 10 Then:
55lb KB swings - until I couldn’t do one more
75lb EZ curls - until I couldn’t do one more
Repeated the above until my playlist ended approx. 3-5 songs, so ~15 minutes.
There was no rest between sets, just the 10 step walk from the bar to the KB
The goal with cardio is the minimal effective dose. As you get better your physical capacity improves, AS WELL AS your mental toughness.
Dips (didn’t know the form, I’ll look it up for next time)
Incline Push-Ups (didn’t know how much of an angle to have, but I did them) 3 sets: 20-20-20 (no failure)
Dumbbell Pullovers (read it’s best to start with low weight on this one because the shoulders might have trouble, and mine did. Felt like they dislocated at times) 15 lbs 3 sets: 8-8-8 (no failure)
So there it is. Not the best I’m aware and I look forward to input.
Something I’d like to know is if I should be going to failure or not. How should I decide the weight? How many sets should I do? What about the shoulder issue I had in the Dumbbell Pullovers? And anything else you think needs mentioning, please do so.
-For the dumbbell inclines, stick with the 30’s, for the same 3sets. Keep the first 2 sets at 8 reps, and make your goal increase the reps on the 3rd set. You got 8-8-5 this time, aim for 8-8-7 or something. Keep the same weight until you get to some “Goal Number.” Maybe 15 reps on the third set, whatever you think is cool.
A super easy progression like this will keep you on track, moving forward, without a complicated scheme. After a few good workouts, you’ll get a better feel for sets and weights.
If the dumbbell pull-overs were an issue, you could try Straight Arm Pulldowns. The motion is similar, but it’s way easier on your shoulders.
I really like dchris’s version of cardio. You can hit treadmills or go jogging, or you can do some useful exercises in a circuit.
Like some kind of abs/core x10 reps , followed by “Fat Man Chins” x10 reps then back raises x10. Keep rests short, and work through the circuit until you feel cardioed.
@FlatsFarmer Thanks, I’ll put straight arm pulldowns for my back day since they work the back. I’m doing dumbbell pullovers specifically for the chest though so is there a way I can beef up my shoulders so this issue corrects itself?
For cardio (today) how bout this:
Reverse Crunch x10
Fat Man Chins x10
Back Raises x10
And are you saying to repeat until exhausted?
Btw, today I’m feeling rather tired. Does that mean I need to eat more?
Pull-overs are kind of a strange move. Sometimes you hear that they are for your chest. Or they are for your back. Or they work your triceps. You could try using an EZ-Curl bar, or even a barbell instead of the dumbbell. You’ll be in a similar position, just with more space between your hands.
You can use the Prone Trap Raise as a way to “beef up” your shoulders. Don’t think of it as a “lift,” but more like a “warm up” to get your shoulders back and down before you do more strenuous, heavier stuff.
For the body weight circuit, you don’t have to go till you’re exhausted.
You can pick a number, like 50 reps of each exercise, and work until you hit that. In the future, you can try to do the same number in fewer sets.
Or pick a length of time(12 minutes) and see how many rounds you can make in that time. Next workout, try to get another round in.
The problem with going until you’re exhausted is that it’s hard to know how much to improve on it next time. If you push to your limit the first time, doing a little more takes a lot out of you.
Work up a sweat, and get your breathing and heart rate up, but avoid the feeling of a heart attack. Get a feel for how it effects you. A few weeks of working steady, and getting to the gym will work better than crushing yourself and missing days.
