Intensity

I hurt my elbow in October of 2012; I immediately had to drop any sort of training I was doing in favor of avoiding exacerbating the bursitis any more than I already had. Not being the type of person to enjoy admitting failure, I opted to lay low for a while, endure the pain where it struck (of particular interest was lifting a can of coffee grounds, which automatically caused agony to grip my elbow).

Well, it's been months. The torment of inaction has been nagging at me, and I think my elbow is back up to where it should be. I have decided to ease back into my workout routine (called High Intensity Interval Training, for the curious), and see how I feel over the course of the next short period of time.

The damage:

• seated cable pull-down (8 reps, 3 sets)
• crunches (32 reps)
• barbell curls (8 reps, 3 sets)
• barbell shoulder squats (8 reps, 3 sets)

This was last night's workout. Not huge, not overly intense, but it's what I needed to bootstrap my reintegration into the lifestyle I'm trying to build for myself. My blood was pumping, my heart was pounding, and I felt great when I relaxed afterward.

Today is a little different; muscles that I'd worked are singing their usual tune, and I am looking positively toward the next workout. I wish I could do more, but I want to take it slowly to avoid further injury.