19 Jan Tucker: A step in the right direction

I’ve been taking some steps (pun intended) in the right direction lately and things are feeling good!

One, I’m off crutches. Two, I’ve been able to give my body several weeks of rest without being seriously injured or beat up which is just what I needed. Three, I’ve been able to hit a couple small goals I had during this time period.

I told myself that post show I would take a couple months to rest, work on other things and job hunt to find a better job than what I was doing. Something with a regular schedule and good enough pay so that I can afford to live here, pay for bodybuilding, and not be constantly stressed about funds. I moved to Venice not only to lift at Golds, but to be able to train with the pros there, and that takes money! So being able to have some wiggle room and throw down on a package of sessions with some of the greats is really important to me. There are so many little things that you can do to improve your training – variations of movements, different hand and foot placements to hit the muscles you need to bring up etc. I’m hungry for all that knowledge I’m pumped to work with some of these guys.

I’ve been working out here and there these last few weeks, but as of this week everything feels better and I’m taking it more seriously. I’m starting off light without much volume and focusing more on machines so that I don’t re-injure my elbow and knee that I worked so hard to rehab last year.

I’ve put together kind of a fun split for myself, emphasizing hamstrings and lats a lot which were my weak points in the last show I did. The actual weight lifting is still only 30-45 minutes, and the warm up I’m doing is really thorough. As time goes on and I get healthier, the warm up will be just for maintenance and I’ll be able to put more emphasis on the training…. All in time though. When you’re hurt for a while you DO NOT want to go back. So I’m being very patient and grateful that I can train without pain.

Chest/biceps –
Incline hammer strength press
Neutral grip flat machine press
Cable chest flies
Machine preacher curls
Machine single arm high elbow curls

** No elbow pain while doing pressing movements. I kept the range of motion a little shorter with the curls to make sure I didn’t take any steps backwards, but still got good biceps work done

Quads/calves
Standing calf raises
Seated calf raises
Leg press variation 1
Single leg leg press variation 2
Leg extensions

** Some irritation in my knee during the final sets of the first leg press. I was able to pinpoint where it hurt and what hurt it though, so this will be good info for when I see Craig soon. The second exercise didn’t hurt so that was very encouraging.

That’s it friends! I’ll start taking progress pics next week and be 100% back on track.

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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.

Latest posts by Tucker Loken (see all)

• Tucker: Another Normal Log Update - March 1, 2019
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• Tucker: Making Do - February 4, 2019