Done deal, now just gotta wait for delivery. Amazon was having a āspring saleā so it was only $115 for all of it. The bar is 35lbs and the plates will put me at 75 which I havenāt done before. I feel like itās a good little starter set. Iām excited for heavier lifting!! I feel like Iāve plateaued with my dumbbells
Difficult to recognize you without the socks 
Nice work bro! You look like a different person. The change is incredible 
Back injury returned this morning, towards the end of my chest/biceps day. Wasnāt even lifting at the time, just moved a certain way. Not excruciating pain, but I knew immediately that I did something.
Iām pissed off that this could mean another week out of the gym after just getting back in. Iām not sure the extent yet as the pain and stiffness settles in slowly, sometimes as much as a few days. Def taking tomorrow off at minimum and listening to my body on future days.
Worst part though?
My Mom is flying in from out of town in two days. If Iām stuck in bed or limited by pain in how long I can sit/stand/walk, itāll fuck up the visit a bit. Big one is that weāre supposed to go to the baseball game on Saturday.
I went to Urgent Care to try and get an MRI while itās in the acute injury stage so we can maybe get a better idea of what this actually is, since my surgery apparently didnāt fix it. PT and this urg care doc both think back sprain. Turns out urgent care canāt order MRIs. But they did prescribe me a steroid pack, and according to my Mom (nurse of 30+ years) it should help the pain aspect at least.
Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.
I have to watch myself on days like today. This is bothering my physically and mentally, and when something like that is going on, Iām prone to being snippy. Gotta watch it.
This sucks. Iāve had steroid packs on different occasions. Usually Prednisone, and it does most times knock out the pain and inflammation pretty quick. Just be careful you donāt think itās all the way better and jump back in to quick
Glad to hear it worked for you! I just picked mine up. Methylprednisonale or something like that. Prednisoneās stronger brother, apparently. Hopefully I have the same reaction. Well, actuallyā¦hopefully this is just a small tweak and doesnāt progress further.
But I did read a lot about it, and I had gathered that it will relive the symptoms but not fix the problem - so I will definitely not mistake feeling less pain with being healed!
Medrol always makes me thirsty and clean the house like crazy. I canāt sit still!
I hope your back feels better soon, at least good enough to go to the game.
Dr had said that oral steroids make some people fidgety/jitteryā¦sounds like youāre one of 'em!
3am. Before work.
Iām still not doing the core challenge this early. @Steve14
Gettin it done 
Thatās next level dedication bro!!!
My back feels considerably better, although pain isnāt absent. I can also tell itās still very much injured, just the meds are making it tolerable.
The frustration part, the mental spiraling that used to always happen with this, is coming up.
I spent YEARS dealing with this, pushing, advocating for myself to get an actual diagnosis and have something done about it. In the 2 years since my eventual surgery, I thought I was finally free for good.
And now the boogeyman is back. For real, this injury feels like a ghost that haunts me. And did I get a spinal fusion for no fucking reason? Because I went in knowing that it would ultimately cause me additional issues in 10-20 years - as fusions often do - but went ahead with it for the anticipated benefits and relief. Apparently that wasnāt the fix we thought it was.
Back to my (v humble) pre-injury BP. Iām even doing a wee bit of cardio these days. 
And Iām sleeping a bit more. Struggling w depr and high level sadness on the daily but doing what I can when I can.
Stay strong, team! 
Gym is closed today so I didnāt say oh well Iāll go tomorrow. I said weāll make do with what we have and get some! The drunk Zack would have made sure he drank today so sober zaddy made sure he got his gym sesh! HAPPY EASTER everyone! May your will be stronger then your thirst! Stay disciplined and as always one day at a time!!
Sounds like a good plan. 
Had a solid effort leg day tonight. Iāve been so good cutting down on caffeine to do sth about my ridiculously atrocious sleep - my DOC #1 that I never ever wanna quit (bad joke to make on here youse will forgive me), I now have none after 1800 on days when I donāt work - but today I used up all my pre 1800-caffeine writing a long ass story 
so I just had to focus and squat w/o it. And I did. 
I think squats are back to where they were pre-injury now and things are looking up. Arm is still sore. Heart is still broken. Odaat. At least the arm will get better w time.
Stay strong team! 
Nice!!! When I was bodybuilding before drugs took over my life, I never used to do enough leg days lol. My arms were like stronger than my legs lmao. They donāt call me Eric āStick Legsā for nothing!!! 
I need to do more leg days but I can only do so much because of a knee tendon injury I had a few years ago, but Iāll do my best yessir!!! 
So will the heart.
