Recovery after major shoulder repair

[fittofattofit]

I rested today too...rest means food and food rules

I'm cutting but cheated a bit today. Hope you're feeling well, Andrew.

I reckon cheating is what makes the cutting bearable. I'm feeling good today ... finished work early this morning so I'm sitting in the sun at a small cafe eating egg and bacon sandwiches and drinking cappuccinos while surfing ... pretty awesome way to kill an hour

Monday 14th April 2014

5 weeks 4 days post-op .... distal biceps tendon repair

168lbs


Smith machine squats ... paused squats
Paused 3 seconds in the hole
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side

Smith machine squats
5 x 35kg/77lbs per side
3 x 50kg/110lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
3 x 60kg/132lbs per side
10 sets of 3

Stretches/foam rolling

40 minutes

After missing yesterday's session I was keen to get the 10 x 3 out of the way today before going to work. The 3 rep sets weren't as hard as the lighter 5 rep sets the other day and I needed less recovery time between sets .... I got all 10 3 rep sets out of the way in under 30 minutes. I still just stuck to the squatting and did no accessory work
I only had to work between 8:30 and 10:30 this morning so I'm sitting in a cafe in the sun, eating my breakfast of toasted egg and bacon sandwiches and cups of coffee

Tomorrow the plan is to smith squat again:
Tuesday 4 x 9 x 52.5kg/115lbs ps
Thursday 5 x 7 x 56kg/124lbs ps
Saturday 7 x 5 x 60kg/132lbs ps
Monday 10 x 3 x 63kg/139lbs ps

[Swuuu]

Thanks Swuuu .. part of the downside of being injured is the psychological impact that the fear of re-injury has. I've had so many mental issues about my deads in the past that I'm worried that my form will be cactus once I get back to doing them

I know what you mean. You will be fine once you get back into the swing of everything man .

Thanks Swuuu. My massage guy said the same the other day. I know though that I haven't lost any weight off my legs so it's all come off the upper body, and let's face it: when you look in the gym mirror it's your shoulders and arms that you see and they're getting smaller
I'm seeing a new physio on Monday though and I'm hoping he'll give me some guidance about what resistance work for the upper body I'll be able to throw in

no homo? why no massage gal? haha. I actually notice my legs more probably cuz im lower body dominant. Maybe you have lost some size since you cant train the way you would like to but it honestly doesnt look like much. You are even more of a squatting machine now . Even though its smith squats all those squats might be helping you keep the size in your upper body. Can you not do the horizontal leg press?


Yea gotta suck knowing that your session might be cut short . Id be pissed too. Is it bad if sometimes you would rather go to the gym then have sex? wait nm forget I said that lol.

[nads786]

Are your arms and shoulders actually getting smaller or is it in your head? That last picture you posted up, they looked huge!

[Exane]

Are your arms and shoulders actually getting smaller or is it in your head? That last picture you posted up, they looked huge!

This. Time off my be allowing them to actually grow as well...

[fittofattofit]

I know what you mean. You will be fine once you get back into the swing of everything man : D.

I'm starting to slowly get my mojo back

no homo? : p why no massage gal? haha. I actually notice my legs more probably cuz im lower body dominant. Maybe you have lost some size since you cant train the way you would like to but it honestly doesnt look like much. You are even more of a squatting machine now :eek : :eek : . Even though its smith squats all those squats might be helping you keep the size in your upper body. Can you not do the horizontal leg press?

I feel guilty about the horizontal leg press ... I've betrayed her the smith machine

And my massage guy is a 6'2" 220lb crossfitter who just tears my muscles to shreds ... with massage it's definitely 'no pain, no gain'

Yea gotta suck knowing that your session might be cut short . Id be pissed too. Is it bad if sometimes you would rather go to the gym then have sex? wait nm forget I said that lol.

But I go to the gym for sex. wait nm forget I said that lol.

Are your arms and shoulders actually getting smaller or is it in your head? That last picture you posted up, they looked huge!

Thanks Nadeem .. I have lost about an inch off my arms and I'm generally feeling smaller across the upper body. To a large extent it is a headfcuk though and I'm never my own best judge

This. Time off my be allowing them to actually grow as well...

Thanks Sean ... I'm hoping that the time off will allow me to repair some long standing wear and tear issues. It's a long reset but it does give me the opportunity to reassess my form on shoulder and chest movements as well as back and deads and maybe comeback stronger (gotta keep positive )

Tuesday 15th April 2014

5 weeks 5 days post-op .... distal biceps tendon repair

169lbs


Smith machine squats ... paused squats
Paused 3 seconds in the hole
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side

Smith machine squats
9 x 35kg/77lbs per side
9 x 45kg/100lbs per side
9 x 52.5kg/115lbs per side
9 x 52.5kg/115lbs per side
9 x 52.5kg/115lbs per side
9 x 52.5kg/115lbs per side
4 sets of 9

Stretches/foam rolling

Wide grip pull downs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
Tempo 5:2:5

Seated cable row
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
Tempo 5:2:5

50 minutes

I had a good recovery after yesterday's session ... knees felt fine and no big DOMS. The plan for today was to do 4 sets of 9. I made a mistake on my calculations .. I was intending to bump all the weights by 5kg (or 2.5kg ps) from last week but I bumped them 3.5kg ps or 16.5lbs total. Today was OK but the 5 x 7 and the 7 x 5 will be tough. Anyway, here is the 1st set of 9 with 116lbs ps
As usual, the first rep are two are a bit tentative. I suspect that I'll have to widen my stance to get a bit deeper. I do go wider and deeper with a BB normally but I find that a narrower stance seems a little easier for me on the smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Tkuy0-_QM



Squat tip
Don't binge eat 300g of liquorice the night before squatting
Sorry for the sound effects

Physio
Saw the physio yesterday (the proper one, not his stand-in). He only looks after upper limb patients and he was very impressed with my recovery so far. He said that I basically have full mobility back so that I'm well ahead of where he would expect me to be. He has told me that the task now is to progressively tension the repaired tendon so that it regains tensile strength. He's given me the all clear to do some isometric work involving the biceps as well as some light flexion work. I figure that holding on to the bar for squats is a good way to put isometric tension on the biceps

Scared my wife
When she saw me sitting on the edge of the sofa struggling to pull on my knee sleeves she said I looked like Oscar Pistorius putting on his blades. Said she'd be scared to sit on the loo tonight

[fittofattofit]

Wednesday 16th April 2014

5 weeks 5 days post-op .... distal biceps tendon repair

168lbs

Pec deck flyes
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
Tempo 3:2:3

Single arm cable press-down .. left arm
12 x 80lbs
12 x 80lbs
12 x 80lbs
12 x 80lbs
12 x 80lbs

Serratus inverted rows
12
12
12
12
12

Single arm machine pull-downs
15 x 55lbs
15 x 55lbs
15 x 55lbs
15 x 55lbs
15 x 55lbs

Reverse pec deck Rear delt flyes
12 x 30kg (66lbs)
12 x 30kg (66lbs)
12 x 30kg (66lbs)
12 x 30kg (66lbs)
12 x 30kg (66lbs)

Roman chair sit-ups
20, 20, 20


45 minutes

Rehabby kind of day ... . I tried some cable curls single armed, but my left elbow has been aching and it barked at me. Did some single arm pressdowns and pulldowns and they were Ok. The main focus of today was really about getting both arms and shoulders moving together and keeping the shoulders healthy after a period of relative immobility. Pec deck was light but focussed on squeezing the pecs and activating the subscapularis. Serratus pull-ups/rows are all about scapular and GH joint stability. The rear delt flyes were very strict and are important for me to keep the shoulder stable as well .. rear delts actually felt worked and tight afterwards.

[Swuuu]

I'm starting to slowly get my mojo back

groovy lol

I feel guilty about the horizontal leg press ... I've betrayed her the smith machine

And my massage guy is a 6'2" 220lb crossfitter who just tears my muscles to shreds ... with massage it's definitely 'no pain, no gain'

haha the smith is a good machine though . Another cross fitter huh. Must be worth trying at least! All of them definitely look in shape. Or at least a good amount of them do. yea those types of massages definitely doesnt feel good.

But I go to the gym for sex. wait nm forget I said that lol.

haha I meant is it bad that I think about skipping sex for the gym. I think it is lol.

Looks like you go plenty deep enough on the squats. Do you do that for the glutes and hams too? After some point I dont think there is much benefit.

Still no concentration curls huh?

[RyouBakua]

+1 for bacon egg sandwiches

and 220lb crossfit masseuse. donotwant/10

haha I meant is it bad that I think about skipping sex for the gym. I think it is lol.

get your priorities straight

[-calvus-]

Good deal on the isometrics. Almost through to loading that biceps up. Now that you have had all this time for a proper deload you can push through some plateaus at the end of the year. Keep it up Andrew.

[fittofattofit]

haha the smith is a good machine though : D. Another cross fitter huh. Must be worth trying at least! All of them definitely look in shape. Or at least a good amount of them do. yea those types of massages definitely doesnt feel good.

Yeah .. this guy is a good friend now and I've been getting massages from him every two weeks for 5 years now. We talk gym, diet and training ... I suppose it's a bit like my wife and her hairdresser, except that the visit to the hairdresser isn't painful

He actually did the same thing as me and ruptured his distal biceps tendon 18 months ago, playing basketball though and I put him on to the surgeon and helped get him fast tracked. He's had a great outcome and only took up crossfit after the injury. His recovery is one of the reasons I'm optimistic about my own

haha I meant is it bad that I think about skipping sex for the gym. I think it is lol.

Looks like you go plenty deep enough on the squats. Do you do that for the glutes and hams too? After some point I dont think there is much benefit.

Still no concentration curls huh? : p

I know that my hips and glutes have a tendency to be very tight so I've been trying to get deep enough to get a good rebound happening out of the hole. Once I feel that I'm getting that rebound I can usually feel the glutes working

And no concentration curls for at least another 6 weeks

+1 for bacon egg sandwiches

and 220lb crossfit masseuse. donotwant/10

Heavy lifting session with the trainer + Deep tissue massage + PWO bacon and egg sandwich = perfect day!

get your priorities straight : p

I'm married with kids ... sex is a distant memory

Good deal on the isometrics. Almost through to loading that biceps up. Now that you have had all this time for a proper deload you can push through some plateaus at the end of the year. Keep it up Andrew.

Thanks Jeff .. I think that I'm getting some good isometric stimulation with the squatting when I'm gripping the smith bar. I'm seeing him again in two weeks and he said that that's when he's expecting to be able to tell me to load up the bis. He said 4 months post-op before heavy loading

Thursday 17th April 2014

6 weeks post-op ... repair of ruptured distal biceps tendon

169lbs

Rehab session

Circuit ... 3 cycles of:

Single leg squats
12 each leg

Pallov presses
12 x 40kg (88lbs) each side

Serratus pressups
12 x BW

Scapular cable presses
12 x band right arm

Ab wheel rollouts
12 reps

Glute bridge/single leg roll-out
12 each leg

30 minutes

This was my first session with my rehab trainer for 10 weeks so it was a good opportunity for him to assess my shoulder and hip function. He was very happy with my shoulder movements/scapular tracking etc and with my hip mobility and core strength so that's all good for getting back into a decent training regime. Nothing heavy or too challenging



Good Friday 18th April 2014

Gym is closed

Went for a walk instead

My wife and I went for a walk in the hills just on the edge of the city. 2 hours, 9.5km, 375m climb and loads of these guys around:




I saw at least a dozen of them pretty much lazing in the sunshine with that CBF look on their faces



A view across to the city


BB squats with JP on Monday
A soft day yesterday and no gym today so I'm starting to feel guilty. Tomorrow (Saturday) the gym is open again so it'll be a Smith machine squat day. Sunday the gym is closed again but on Monday I'm scheduled to have my first session back with JP ... BB squats are on the menu

[RyouBakua]

massage twice a month sounds good

and i guess koalas are just everywhere?

I'm married with kids ... sex is a distant memory

true story

[fittofattofit]

massage twice a month sounds good

and i guess koalas are just everywhere?

I'd get a massage weekly if I had the time
There are a lot of koalas but you hardly ever see them when you're walking .. the weather has been warm and wet lately so they've got plenty to eat and they seem to be flourishing. There's lots of kangaroos as well, but they are lazy fcukers and you only see them out at dawn or dusk

true story

Too true

Saturday 19th April 2014

6 weeks 2 days post-op .... distal biceps tendon repair

169lbs


Smith machine squats ... paused squats
Paused 3 seconds in the hole
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side

Smith machine squats
7 x 35kg/77lbs per side
7 x 50kg/110lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
5 sets of 7

Stretches/foam rolling

Wide grip pull downs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
Tempo 5:2:5

Seated cable row
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
Tempo 5:2:5

DB lateral raises
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
Very strict; very light

Reverse pec deck rear delt flyes
10 x 40kg (88lbs)
8 x 40kg (88lbs)
8 x 40kg (88lbs)
8 x 40kg (88lbs)
Very strict

70 minutes

Today was the 5 x 7 of smolov ... the first set was daunting but after that I just ground through it. On each set the last two reps were slight rest/pause with maybe a 10 second pause, but all reps felt good. I was pretty much gasping for breath at the end of the squats though. After the squats I did some more shoulder mobility and strength work .. all light and all focussed on maintaining normal movement patterns. The light weight seated rows going slow are actually a good way of putting isometric tension on the repaired biceps tension (at least that's the way I'm justifying it )

Tomorrow, Easter Sunday the gym is closed so I think that there'll be another bush walk, and then on Monday, I'll be doing my first proper training session with JP for 9 weeks. On that day I got my deadlift PB of 185/407lbs and my squat PB of 155kg/341lbs ... I won't be doing any deads for a while yet but I'm prepared to be slaughtered when I try to do a proper BB squat.

Happy Easter!

[RyouBakua]

I'd get a massage weekly if I had the time
There are a lot of koalas but you hardly ever see them when you're walking .. the weather has been warm and wet lately so they've got plenty to eat and they seem to be flourishing. There's lots of kangaroos as well, but they are lazy fcukers and you only see them out at dawn or dusk

Saturday 18th April 2014

6 weeks 2 days post-op .... distal biceps tendon repair

169lbs


Smith machine squats ... paused squats
Paused 3 seconds in the hole
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side
5 x 20kg/44lbs each side

Smith machine squats
7 x 35kg/77lbs per side
7 x 50kg/110lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
7 x 56.5kg/125lbs per side
5 sets of 7

Stretches/foam rolling

Wide grip pull downs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
10 x 90lbs
Tempo 5:2:5

Seated cable row
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
10 x 50kg/110bs
Tempo 5:2:5

DB lateral raises
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
12 x 6lbs
Very strict; very light

Reverse pec deck rear delt flyes
10 x 40kg (88lbs)
8 x 40kg (88lbs)
8 x 40kg (88lbs)
8 x 40kg (88lbs)
Very strict

70 minutes

Today was the 5 x 7 of smolov ... the first set was daunting but after that I just ground through it. On each set the last two reps were slight rest/pause with maybe a 10 second pause, but all reps felt good. I was pretty much gasping for breath at the end of the squats though. After the squats I did some more shoulder mobility and strength work .. all light and all focussed on maintaining normal movement patterns. The light weight seated rows going slow are actually a good way of putting isometric tension on the repaired biceps tension (at least that's the way I'm justifying it )

Tomorrow, Easter Sunday the gym is closed so I think that there'll be another bush walk, and then on Monday, I'll be doing my first proper training session with JP for 9 weeks. On that day I got my deadlift PB of 185/407lbs and my squat PB of 155kg/341lbs ... I won't be doing any deads for a while yet but I'm prepared to be slaughtered when I try to do a proper BB squat.

Happy Easter!

i would get one weekly too if i had the coin

roos are lazy huh. put me in that heat and id be lazy too



good work today

hows the bicep feeling?

[Swuuu]

get your priorities straight

I think I might need to. Told my fwb once that I had to go to the gym. She wasnt too happy about that lol. That wasnt a smart thing to do hahah.

Yeah .. this guy is a good friend now and I've been getting massages from him every two weeks for 5 years now. We talk gym, diet and training ... I suppose it's a bit like my wife and her hairdresser, except that the visit to the hairdresser isn't painful

lolllllllllllll good analogy. You have a date how cute haha jk jk. Yea we pay for getting tortured how ironic. I really wanna get ART cuz I know I need it. I believe the guy I looked into is a bodybuilder and he says on his site that its painful and to specifically not go to him if you cant tolerate pain. Gotta love musclehead talk huh?

He actually did the same thing as me and ruptured his distal biceps tendon 18 months ago, playing basketball though and I put him on to the surgeon and helped get him fast tracked. He's had a great outcome and only took up crossfit after the injury. His recovery is one of the reasons I'm optimistic about my own

oh crap . Yea the plus is at least your recovery is going well. Can only look forward like you have said. Speaking of moving forward looks like you are starting to do a little bit more. Hope your bb squat session goes well. Try to stay in the hole for more than 3 seconds next time lol sorry I couldnt help it. But srs thats pretty serious!! Love those paused squats as well. Definitely ups the intensity a notch.

I know that my hips and glutes have a tendency to be very tight so I've been trying to get deep enough to get a good rebound happening out of the hole. Once I feel that I'm getting that rebound I can usually feel the glutes working

And no concentration curls for at least another 6 weeks

Interesting. Dont tight glutes and hips really interfere with squats? A few of the ladies on here I follow dont do squats cuz they have bad hips. Dont shoot me for saying that lol.

You never do concentration curls. Do you lack focus? lol sorry for all the corny jokes. Ive been in a bad mood so im cheering myself up now by posting sexual innuendos everywhere.

[fittofattofit]

good work today

hows the bicep feeling?

Thanks Ryou .. the tendon repair site actually feels very good -- no pain at all. The biceps muscle itself gets a little bit crampy, I think because it's basically been unused for 7 weeks

lolllllllllllll good analogy. You have a date how cute haha jk jk. Yea we pay for getting tortured how ironic. I really wanna get ART cuz I know I need it. I believe the guy I looked into is a bodybuilder and he says on his site that its painful and to specifically not go to him if you cant tolerate pain. Gotta love musclehead talk huh?

He sounds like the guy to go to!
I used to have a physio who did dry needling of my impinged biceps tendon ... fuk that was painful but was awesome the next week

oh crap . Yea the plus is at least your recovery is going well. Can only look forward like you have said. Speaking of moving forward looks like you are starting to do a little bit more. Hope your bb squat session goes well. Try to stay in the hole for more than 3 seconds next time lol sorry I couldnt help it. But srs thats pretty serious!! Love those paused squats as well. Definitely ups the intensity a notch.

I do the pauses to really stretch under load and get into a good position for my knee tracking
I'm happy with the progress so far and it's nice to be moving my arms together

Interesting. Dont tight glutes and hips really interfere with squats? A few of the ladies on here I follow dont do squats cuz they have bad hips. Dont shoot me for saying that lol.

Mine was from decades of cycling and was the reason that I've had a lot of piriformis, glute and lumbar strains. I've spent a lot of time loosening up and getting more flexible but I find that I tighten up again very quickly so I've got to be proactive

You never do concentration curls. Do you lack focus? lol sorry for all the corny jokes. Ive been in a bad mood so im cheering myself up now by posting sexual innuendos everywhere.

I will start on concentration curls just for you

[TheBeastTyler]

Hope ya recover soon, man. It's no fun being injured, but it's good that you're still workin hard. Keep it up!

[-calvus-]

Nice smolov session with a good amount of volume. Great to see some more bilateral work creep in. Time for some BB squats?

[fittofattofit]

Hope ya recover soon, man. It's no fun being injured, but it's good that you're still workin hard. Keep it up!

Thanks! One injury after another but I'm hoping to come back better and smarter. I got squat and deadlift PRs at my last lifting session before the injury so it would be nice to get back where I was and then add some

Nice smolov session with a good amount of volume. Great to see some more bilateral work creep in. Time for some BB squats?

Thanks Jeff .. I'm much happier going light on the bilateral work than heavy on the single sided lifts
I'm looking forward to the BB squats tomorrow but I'm also a little scared

[viennafat]

Happy Easter!
I suspect plenty of food and liquids will be consumed.


BB squats tomorrow!
It must feel like ages since you last did those.

You've done a great job keeping up and working around the injury, though. Very impressive in my books.
That was a great session yesterday.

[fittofattofit]

Happy Easter!
I suspect plenty of food and liquids will be consumed.

It was ... a Beef stew cooked in Guinness, lots of beer, then hot cross buns and a bottle of port. I slept well

BB squats tomorrow!
It must feel like ages since you last did those.

You've done a great job keeping up and working around the injury, though. Very impressive in my books.
That was a great session yesterday.

It's 9 weeks since I BB squatted! Thanks for the support Tom ... I had a great session

Monday 21st April 2014

173lbs

Squats with the PT ... first PT session in 9 weeks

Glute and hammie stretching

Squats ... warm up
10 x bar (44lbs)
10 x bar (44lbs)
5 x 60kg (132lbs)
7 second neg, then rebound and speed up

put on knee sleeves

Squats
5 x 100kg (220lbs)
5 x 120kg (264lbs)
5 x 130kg (286lbs)
5 x 140kg (308lbs) PR
Best 5 rep set ever


BB walking lunges
12 steps x 60kg (132lbs)
10 steps x 80kg (176lbs)
10 steps x 80kg (176lbs)
Felt pretty light after the squats


Superset
Step-ups to 18" box
10 x 80kg (176lbs)
10 x 80kg (176lbs)
10 x 80kg (176lbs)
with banded side-steps
10 side steps right then 10 left .. orange band
10 side steps right then 10 left .. orange band
10 side steps right then 10 left .. orange band
For abductors .. a lot harder than you'd think


Superset
Box squats
5 x 100kg (220lbs)
5 x 100kg (220lbs)
5 x 100kg (220lbs)
2 sec neg;2 second pause on box; power up
with pistol squats
8 each leg
8 each leg
8 each leg

Thoracic rotations/hamstring stretches

60 minutes



The session:

Squats
100kg x 5 .... felt very light
120kg x 5 .... still pretty easy
130kg x 5 .... getting harder but kept form tight
140kg x 5 .... rolled forward a little on the last rep but aced it

None of the reps was a grinder. This was a 5 rep PR for me. My best before was 5 x 137.5kg in February

walking lunges
60kg felt very light. 80kg was tougher. Instead of alternating legs I did forward lunges right legged on the way out and left legged on the way back. It's actually tough doing it that way

step-ups
At 80kg these were challenging. Really had to concentrate on keeping the core tight

Banded side-steps
I took an orange band, held it in the hands and stepped inside it. The idea was to side-step against the band resistance. The first few reps felt good but by the 10th rep you could feel the fatigue. A good exercise for the abductors

Box squats and pistols
Box squats 100kg x 5 .... Concentrating on a wide stance, shins staying upright, slow neg, pause, and then power up through the glutes
Pistols were good although the knees were a little achey at the end


Summary
A great session ... my first lifting session with JP for 9 weeks! On my last two sessions with him I pulled my PB 185kg dead and then squatted a 155kg PB so given everything that has happened in between I was prepared for a real slap in the face. Fortunately it didn't happen .. I got 140kg x 5 and all pretty easy with good form. My previous best 5 rep set was 137.5kg. Everything else felt pretty good as well. No problems with my arm either

The next session with JP will be on Thursday ... squats again

[Swuuu]

He sounds like the guy to go to!
I used to have a physio who did dry needling of my impinged biceps tendon ... fuk that was painful but was awesome the next week

Yea I wanna go to him sometime. Only thing is I really cant take that kinda pain. Im not used to it lol. Lol definitely doesnt sound fun

I do the pauses to really stretch under load and get into a good position for my knee tracking
I'm happy with the progress so far and it's nice to be moving my arms together

Its cool that you can do that without your knee/s bothering you. That gives a lot of folks problems.

Mine was from decades of cycling and was the reason that I've had a lot of piriformis, glute and lumbar strains. I've spent a lot of time loosening up and getting more flexible but I find that I tighten up again very quickly so I've got to be proactive

Lance Armstronging eh? Those dudes are pretty little but have some big legs. Probably better to be overly warm than not I think.

I will start on concentration curls just for you

lol and also never any preacher curls either . Glad the squat session went well. Looks like you are one of those people who comeback stronger with all the time off as opposed to losing strength. Congrats on the PR!! . Heck of a warmup too with the 7 second negative!

[-calvus-]

Thats a huge leg day man. Didnt skip a beat at all with that 5 rep PR. Strong work today Andrew.

[Exane]

Damn Andrew, congrats on the PR, that is awesome!

No problems with my arm either

... but this is the best part!

[bobbydigitaloa]

Awesome work on the PR and great 5-set rep work. Andrew. Steps forward...I like it.

[viennafat]

wtf.....
Doesn't BB squat for 9 weeks, comes back and hits a PR.
Awesome!

Great comeback session, Andrew.
Strong everything. You didn't miss a beat. Excellent work.

[fittofattofit]

Its cool that you can do that without your knee/s bothering you. That gives a lot of folks problems.

For me it's the fact that my hips are so tight so that when I do the pause squats the tension is all at the hips and glutes rather than at the knees. I find that the shallower I go with my squatting (especially if I'm just above parallel) the more my knees hurt. Going deep is pretty much painless for me

Lance Armstronging eh? Those dudes are pretty little but have some big legs. Probably better to be overly warm than not I think.

Well there's cycling and cycling

lol and also never any preacher curls either : p. Glad the squat session went well. Looks like you are one of those people who comeback stronger with all the time off as opposed to losing strength. Congrats on the PR!! : D : D. Heck of a warmup too with the 7 second negative!

I suppose the big difference for me was that the time off from pressing and deadlifting meant that my legs have got a good working out .. it's nice though to know that I've managed to retain most of my leg and core strength

Thats a huge leg day man. Didnt skip a beat at all with that 5 rep PR. Strong work today Andrew.

Thanks a lot Jeff! I'll be interested to see what he asks me to do on Thursday .. probably sets of 8s

Damn Andrew, congrats on the PR, that is awesome!

... but this is the best part!

Thanks Sean! I was very pleased and it's nice to have some good news when I seem to be always injuring myself. And the arm feels great ... just got to avoid the temptation to try some heavy deads

Awesome work on the PR and great 5-set rep work. Andrew. Steps forward...I like it.

Thanks Bobby ... I'm even getting to like lunges

wtf.....
Doesn't BB squat for 9 weeks, comes back and hits a PR.
Awesome!

Great comeback session, Andrew.
Strong everything. You didn't miss a beat. Excellent work.

Thanks Tom. I was genuinely feeling scared going in there yesterday .. just like old times going in for my deadlift sessions . I was prepared to fail at anything over 120. That's one of the great thing's about JP as a trainer .. he has more confidence in me than I have in myself and he pushes me.

Tuesday 22nd April 2014

6 weeks 5 days post-op .... distal biceps tendon repair

171lbs ... Easter egg-cess


BB bench press
7 x 50kg (110lbs)
7 x 50kg (110lbs)
7 x 50kg (110lbs)
7 x 50kg (110lbs)
7 x 50kg (110lbs)
7 x 50kg (110lbs)
Very light and slow. Strict focus on pecs and tris

Inverted Serratus Rows/pull-ups
12 x BW
12 x BW
12 x BW
12 x BW
15 x BW
Serratus

Pec deck flyes
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
12 x 50kg (110lbs)
Tempo 3:2:3
Pecs and subscapularis

Straight arm lat pull-downs
12 x 140lbs
12 x 140lbs
12 x 140lbs
12 x 140lbs
12 x 140lbs
Tris, serratus, lats

Roman chair sit-ups
20, 20, 20

50 minutes

My legs feel great after yesterday's session .. nice mild DOMS in the hammies, medial and lateral quads and the glutes, so a full house and only some mild knee pain
Today I decided to do some BB pressing, keeping it very light and going slow, with the focus on the pecs and triceps ... being very careful not to load up the biceps. It felt good and even though they are pussy weights I can feel it in my pecs now. I figure that if I'm going to be rehabbing my arm I may as well be trying to get some correct movement patterning happening with my pressing as well. Serratus pull-ups, pec deck flyes and straight arm pull-downs were all focussed on stabilising the shoulders and keeping from loading up the biceps.

I took a pic today in the gym. Not a leg day, so cold, but I've managed to keep most of the mass on my legs even though I've lost some upper body mass




And nothing at all to do with training ... my beautiful 19yo is in South Korea at the moment and had this photo taken in traditional dress



She's back on Friday so I'm looking forward to seeing her again

[adamsz]

checkin in Andrew...

kinda disappointed that you seemingly haven't acquired more leg mass considering you've been doing smith machine squats like every damn session. Guess it goes to prove smith machines are worthless?

I guess you have redemption in that BB squat PR! great work man.

Always inspired to see you staying motivated throughout the years despite having to train around major injuries.

Keep chuggin along there.

edit: and you're looking forward to seeing your 19 yo daughter? I think that's a first in this journal

[fittofattofit]

checkin in Andrew...

kinda disappointed that you seemingly haven't acquired more leg mass considering you've been doing smith machine squats like every damn session. Guess it goes to prove smith machines are worthless?

I guess you have redemption in that BB squat PR! great work man.

Always inspired to see you staying motivated throughout the years despite having to train around major injuries.

Keep chuggin along there.

Thanks Zack, and it's great to see you lurking! How's your training going ... recovered from the hip/glute strain and working towards a meet?
I was pretty happy that I stuck to the Smith machine squats in the end ... sort of set me up well for squatting with the BB. The 140kg felt good so it gives me some hope that I'll add some more reps and weight to the squats this year .... dare I dream that a 180kg single might be possible Deads is always a different story though

edit: and you're looking forward to seeing your 19 yo daughter? I think that's a first in this journal

I've still got the feral 17yo at home ..

[moshvr]

wtf.....
Doesn't BB squat for 9 weeks, comes back and hits a PR.
Awesome!

Great comeback session, Andrew.
Strong everything. You didn't miss a beat. Excellent work.

My thoughts exactly. I don't like this guy anymore lol

Great stuff Andrew, and I'm glad to see things are getting better with the arm slowly. When you DL'ing again?

[Exane]

Love seeing you back working like this Andrew! This is awesome!

Legs are looking big as well.