10 Oct 10/20/Recovery

I haven’t posted much lately because… I haven’t done much lately. I started to come down with mono about 2 months ago, and kept lifting lightly because it crept up so slowly for a couple weeks. After it got really bad I shut it down for as long as I needed to, and I’ve been taking it slow and listening to my body as to when I’ll feel ready to exercise fully again.

I finally got into the gym for real late last week. So that marks about 5-6 weeks of almost no exercise besides some bodyweight stuff and a few good walks around the block over the last couple weeks.

The good –

Everything is cracking and popping. I was getting so bound up and tight that really getting mono and having to take time off was the best thing. No amount of tissue work and stretching was helping me at that point, my body was fatigued and the tissue wouldn’t release, so my problems remained. My elbow is almost pain free now, and gets some good pops and cracks every once in a while when it resets itself, same with my hips and lower back. The last couple days when I’ve woken up and rolled out of bed I get this tremendous pop out of one side of my hip or my sacrum. I was getting a little bit of hip pain when I would stand or walk for too long for a while there, and that’s steadily getting better.

Better mind muscle connection – From everything being so bound up, I really felt like I was losing connection with my body. Doing a light leg day a couple days ago I could feel my hamstrings, glutes and core engage like they hadn’t in months. It was so strange to get under the bar and feel all these muscles that hadn’t been fully activated in so long. I could feel a lot of muscle stimulus from the areas that have been giving me pain lately, but it was a good kind of stimulus. It felt like blood was getting somewhere that hadn’t been properly worked in a long time.

The bad –

I’m super uncoordinated right now. Even though I feel my mind muscle connection coming back, everything feels very asymmetrical from side to side. Part of it is just the getting back to it process, and the other part is probably because I haven’t been active and been doing a lot of sitting around, some natural imbalances have returned. I’m a little bit tighter in my left trap and neck, my right front delt, my left quad and my right hip/glute. I’m not too worried about it, it’ll just be something to be aware of as I get back to it, and I’ll have to stretch and roll the areas to make sure they balance out accordingly.

I’m sore. Not as sore as I expected. I thought after some chest work I might be totally immobilized in my upper body for a couple days. That wasn’t sore at all, but my legs were killing me. Even just a couple hours after my leg workout, my hamstrings felt like they were going to cramp, and they have been super sore for the last couple days. It’s a good sore, but it doesn’t stop it from hurting to sit down.

The fun! –

Exercise and lifting is fun! Don’t forget it. It’s really nice to walk in and not worry about how much weight is on the bar at all. I’m just happy to play with 225 on the bench and a couple plates on the squats. I feel very much in tune with what’s happening in my body rather than how much weight is on the bar. It’s nice not to be so attached to the outcome, and instead just enjoy the process of recovery.

Here are the exercises I did. I didn’t pay attention to any of the reps or weight, I just kept the reps high around 10 and got some good blood flow.

Chest –

Flat bench

Dips

Incline bench

Incline machine

Decline wide grip machine

DB pec flies

Legs

McGill Big 3 to warm up

Box jumps and fun stuff to get legs warm

Squats

Stiff leg dead lifts

GHR

Leg ext SS w/ Leg curl

Shoulders

Side raises SS w/ Front raises

Behind the neck press

DB shoulder press

Rear delt raises

Face pulls SS w/ Upright rows

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Tucker Loken

Tucker Loken is a Bodybuilder turned Powerlifter turned Powerbuilder from Eugene, Oregon. He did his first bodybuilding show when he was still in high school, and has been training male and female competitors for shows since 2011. Several years ago he decided to take a step away from his normal routine and learn how to get strong. He worked with Brian for 9 months, added 200 pounds to his raw total and qualified as an Elite lifter in the 220 pound weight class. He returned back to bodybuilding much stronger and now incorporates the 10/20/Life philosophy into his training to keep himself healthy and making continual progress in the Big 3 as well as adding size and shaping his physique. Now part of Team PRS, he brings his unique expertise of nutritional knowledge and how to balance Bodybuilding with Powerlifting to help athletes achieve their best potential.

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