Historical health probs & training questions

I've just joined the forum and read through a multitude of posts looking for something that would address my situation but I have not. Looking for some advice on what I should and should not do.

Background info:

I am 34, married, no kids. I am 6ft tall and currently weigh 172lbs. I was born with a bicuspid (instead of tricuspid) aortic valve that put a strain on my heart along with a murmur from the valve not closing properly and a slight tear next to the valve, leaking blood into the anterior chamber. This was discovered at age 4. I managed to not be held back all that much in my life and was lucky to grow up in a neighborhood of kids that were constantly playing football, baseball, basketball, street hockey and anything else we could to. Point is, I was very active, althetically inlcined and was able to do quite a bit. I played high school soccer and baseball but was kicked off the freshman football team when they found out about my problems.

Even though I was active athletically, I have always remained very lean and sometimes scrawny if I dont work out. In down periods, I burned muscle mass and everything else away, leaving me with good pecs, triceps, shoulders and thighs but thin neck, biceps, fore arms, calfs. Thicker through the middle ( but still lean) and skinny/scrawny towards the extremities.

In my freshman year of college, I began working out regulary for the first time and saw good results over a 3-4 month period with a workout regimine provided by my roomate and workout partner. I then looked for more and completed a cycle of d-ball that added the mass I was looking for. I kept those gains for a while but fell out of regular workouts within a year after that. My peak weight was 192lbs with a very very lean bodyfat count.

At age 21 I had a motorcycle accident and tore a hole into the right side of my gut and tore up my shoulder. I didnt have health insurance and never had it checked out but the shoulder was bad enough that I could never throw a ball or lift anything above my head including weights ( i.e. benchpress, etc.) I spent most of my 20s this way, but managed to get into running local 10k races and jogging 1-3 miles on a regular basis.

At age 29, I had a fairly decent car crash in bad conditions. I spun across the highway in a rainstorm and was hit by another car doing 60-70. I was wearing a seatbelt and was able to drive the car to the side of the road. I thought I was fine. 2 weeks went by and I was feeling extremely tired, sleeping during lunch in my rental car. Through my good fortune, I happened to have my regular bi-annual cardiologist appt. at the end of the 2nd week. I went and had the battery of tests and the doc gave me the OK, only to call me 2 days later to say that I had a severe prob. Seems that the seatbelt may have caught me at the moment my aorta filled with blood. I suffered from a bifurcation of the aortic arch and my aortic valve was pushed down and damaged. The vavle was replaced with a synthetic St. Judes valve and the aortic arch was reconstructed with a mesh. While recovering, I ran into complications with a sheered blood vessel wcich began to leak blood into my right lung cavity. My lung collapsed up to 95% and they had to scarify the lung to make it stick to the cavity, thus preventing blood from leaking in.

Before my surgery the doctor told me I would take some time to get back to normal but that I would be abel to do more than I could before. He obviously is used to telling this to old heart patients, not young ones who were very active before, because it has been a long road back. I tried to go back to the gym (treadmill, elyptical, rowing and light weight reps for arm and back) but met a lot of resistance from my body after about 3 weeks of 4x per week workouts. I am not sure what happened but I had a severe 'reaction' where my heart beat eratic for about 2-3 months and I lost all strength and energy. I stopped going altogether, waiting to see how my body would see this through.

In March '03 I finally had my shoulder operated on and the doctor repaired a torn labrum. During the past 5 years ( heart op was Nov of '99) I have been inactive enough and my body impacted enough where my knees hurt all the time. When I in periods of activity, ( vacations, etc) when I walk a lot, the pain goes away entirely.

I am finally ready to be healthy again and I have begun working out regulary. This time, I started with the core ( my heart) and have spent the past 2 months walking and then running every other day. I am up to 3-4 miles running on the treadmill per day, 4-5 times per week. I have just begun working out lightly on the machines at the gym every other day but I have no set routine and I am little lost. I would like to see my body back to where it once was.

Questions:

Given my past and current heart probs ( doc claims I should be fine), surgically repaired shoulder and my lung ( which seems to be fine now after 2 years of feeling 'stuck') can I realistically expect to follow the routine below that I copied from member Cyclops post, and achieve good results? What excercises should I add, avoid and stress?

I am on my own generalized lowfat, high protien diet, using yogurt, cottage cheese and protien powder as my sources. I eat 2-3 actual meals per day with a lot of snacking on throughout the day. Does this seem like enough for getting rid of the fat around my waist ( bycicle tire at worst now but I want it all gone) and my pecs ( dimpling on the outside edges of my pecs when I flex, etc) while helping me build muscle mass?

I really want to build my body back up to 195lbs of lean muscle again. I think it is going to help me age well and I think I am approaching the cut off point where I put it on now and live well or slide into and old broken shell. In addition I want my wife to see the guy she married before all the worst of this set in and I think it will help professionaly since people def respond better to a man/woman who is well kept.

I am thinking of adding GNC Thermoburst to my diet to help sculpt what I put on. Any thoughts on if this appropriate for someone like me?

Sorry for the long narative and I appreciate your time. I look forward to your replies. All responses welcome.

---DIET---
Breakfast:
1 bowl of cereal - shredded wheat or lowfat granola
1 Colombo yogurt
Glass of OJ (cut out the coffee)

Snack constantly:
clementines or oranges
yogurt
bananas
water

Lunch:
Small bowl of chicken with pasta or 95% lean hamburger with sauce and pasta
Glass of water or 2% milk
( I ocassionally eat out, hamburger, sub)

Snack constantly:
clementines or oranges and a Zonebar
yogurt
bananas
water

Diner
Same as lunch with maybe fresh fish and mixed veggies at times.
water, 2% milk, glass of wine

Snack constantly:
clementines or oranges and a Zonebar
yogurt
bananas
water

--- PROPOSED WORKOUT - taken from Cyclops post with some modifications. ---

Workout with weights every other day

DAY 1
- Morning
Run on treadmill for 30 minutes ( approx 3 miles)

DAY 2
- Morning
Run on treadmill for 30 minutes ( approx 3 miles)
-Evening
Run on treadmill for 15 minutes ( approx 1.5 miles)
Do abs first on every day it is scheduled to be completed
Start with two sets of pullovers
Chest: Bench Presses: 8, 8, 6
Incline Dumbbell Presses: 8, 8, 8
Pec Deck: 8, 8, 8

Triceps: Narrow bench presses: 8, 8, 8
Dips: 10, 10, 8
Tricep push downs: 8, 8, 8
Overhead lifts (gripping dumbell with both hands and lifting over head and down my back and back up again)8, 8, 8

Day 3
- Morning
Run on treadmill for 30 minutes ( approx 3 miles)

Day 4
- Morning
Run on treadmill for 30 minutes ( approx 3 miles)
-Evening:
Run on treadmill for 15 minutes ( approx 1.5 miles)
Close grip chin up warm up 8, 8

Abs: Forward Crunches: 20, 20
Sides: 15, 15

Back: Pull downs 10, 8, 8
Seated Row 10, 8, 8

Biceps: EZ bar curls: 10, 8, 6
Hammer bar curls: 10, 8, 6
Preacher curls: 10, 8, 6

DAY 5
- Morning
Run on treadmill for 30 minutes ( approx 3 miles)

DAY 6
- Morning
Run on treadmill for 30 minutes ( approx 3 miles)
- Evening
Run on treadmill for 15 minutes ( approx 1.5 miles)
Abs: Forward Crunches: 20, 20
Sides: 15, 15

Legs: Seated Calf Raises: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Seated Leg Curls: 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Leg Extensions: 8, 8, 8, 8
Leg presses: 8, 8

Shoulders: Dumbbell Shrugs: 10, 10, 10 10
Shoulder press with dumbbells: 8, 8, 8, 8

DAY 7
Rest

Welcome to DB wobnma1!

What a great informative post. Sounds like you've had some serious medical issues and have gotten a combination of really lucky with the motivation to keep fitness part of your life.

Okay.. so to answer your question. Will the exercise routine (slightly modified) get you results? Sure. Why not. It includes all the major body parts. There's nothing crazy in Cyclops' post. However, I would caution you. If you are going to start any exercise program, you really have to listen to your body and what it tells you. If the dumbbell presses are painful, then the mobility of your joints are impeding progress. And pressing on beyond the pain is the one thing you don't want to do.

I like the routine you posted. I find nothing unusual about it. But I simply cannot answer the question if it's going to put any stress of you. What I can say, is try it out. Start off with low weight. Get the movements down. Form correct and take it slow. Build up to it. Really take the time to listen to your body. If there's a particular exercise that just doesn't feel good, drop it. Add another or skip that entirely.

The only exercise missing would be squats for legs. But I don't know if you'd be able to willing to do those. Free weight squats are the best. If not that, try Smith Machine squats. If there's any complications with your back or knees, forget it. The only reason I mention this exercise is because it's such a great overall body workout in itself. However, given your circumstances, I don't know if you already considered this or if there's any preexisting problems (heart) that may make this particular exercise a bad idea. While your DR. says you should be fine, you may want to run by him the program you are considering. You may want to run by squats to your DR and see if there's any reason that might be a bad idea. Otherwise, the program looks good so far.

As far as eating, if you want to get back to the old days, you really should check out the Sample Bulk Plan at the top of the Training forum. You'd also benefit from the e-book I'm selling via my signature banner below, called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. Between those two programs, I think you could really get your diet on track for bulking and building some muscle. Your diet now is alright but I don't see it being anywhere near where it needs to be to pack on some serious mass.

You've got a good start. You are here! My only comments would be to ask your DR about this program.. just let him know you are starting it.. and to see if there's any concerns with doing squats of any kind. Just add those to a leg day. Keep your workouts to 45-60 minutes. Nothing more. And carefully monitor your progress and how you feel. Don't chalk anything odd up to just beginner weights (dizzy, tired, nauseous). Anything other then sore is a concern. People generally don't workout and then get super dizzy. My warning is don't brush off any signs a workout other then soreness. Soreness is part of working out. But not prolonged pain.

Keep us updated. If you have additional comments, please feel free to post. You gave a ton of great information in your initial post. That was super.

Just take it slow and keep going.. you'll get to your goals.

Marc C. David
Support DB! Buy your supplements at Supplements101.com

MDA,

Thanks for the reply. I usually run everything by my doc but he is not knowledgable about what excercises I should do, only what stresses I should avoid. Thats why I am looking to you folks for ideas. Once I have settled on the excercises I want to put into the routine, I am going to speak with the doc and with the physical therapist I was working with for my shoulder to ensure I am in the clear.

I will add squats to the mix and I will look into a more specific diet. I want every advantage I can get to help my body. Do you have any comments on the GNC Thermoburst?

wobnma1

Do you have any comments on the GNC Thermoburst?

Not I. A lot of those fat burners are nothing more then caffein, green tea type stimulations. They boost your metabolism a bit.. but..

I've not heard or seen anything on it.

Marc C. David
Support DB! Buy your supplements at Supplements101.com