Recovery log after biceps tendon surgery

[m314]

10/4

squats
135 - 10
185 - 10
245 - 10, 10, 10

seated calf raises (hammer strength machine)
450 - 20, 20, 20, 16

elliptical
level 4 at 130 strides per minute - 20 minutes


I'll be on vacation for a few days, so I won't be back in the gym until Tuesday.

[johnjl85]

Took yesterday off. I got out of class late and to be honest my abs were f-ing killed me from tuesday.

Speaking of abs. Holy sh*t they still hurt. I mean damn. But I wasn't going to take another day off.

So I did:

Barbell Box Squat- 35 pounds on each side-----12 rep

Lat Pulldown- 85 lb-------12 reps

Smith barbell row 30 pounds each side-----12 rep

Bench press barbell 45 pounds each side-----12 rep

Girl push-ups-----12 reps

Dumbell shoulder press 20 pounds----12 reps

Resistance Band Bicep Curls----12 reps

One arm dumbell trice extension 25 pounds----12 reps

Felt pretty good. Increased the weight a bit on everything from last week. Injured arm feels great. Now have about 95 percent movement with pronation, 100 percent or real close to 100 percent with supination. Only a little pain at the farthest part with pronation. All exercises felt good, felt a lot better, even with increased weight, than on Monday.

I decided to go with the bands for bicep curls instead of weights. I started to get a bit of a pump with the left arm with the bands, I started to get scared and slowed down my pace. Now a pump at this stage might be good as it really puts the blood in that part of the body which should help with the healing and the band isn't that much in resistance. I'm going to ask my physical therapist next week what she thinks of this idea.

My injured arm's tricep is also weaker than my dominant arm. Dominant arm on the tricep extension could have gone alot heavier but the tricep for my busted arm was too weak to do more than 25 pounds.

I also did 30 minutes on the stationary at a 13 level, some time spent at the 14 level also. Did about a 160 more calories on it than I did on tuesday which felt great, even with abs that are really sore.

So very encouraging progress today. Tomorrow I'm going to jump rope some, do some shadow boxing then try to run again on the treadmill and likely finish on the bike. I may do cardio again on Sunday. I have class all day saturday and sunday so I may not do anything.

[m314]

I decided to go with the bands for bicep curls instead of weights. I started to get a bit of a pump with the left arm with the bands, I started to get scared and slowed down my pace. Now a pump at this stage might be good as it really puts the blood in that part of the body which should help with the healing and the band isn't that much in resistance. I'm going to ask my physical therapist next week what she thinks of this idea.

I don't think there's anything wrong with feeling a pump in the injured arm if there's no pain. When I first started curls (more like hammer curls with my ROM problems), I was doing huge numbers of reps with 2 or 3 pound dbs. That's what some physical therapy protocols for this surgery recommend. I was able to get a great pump without risking reinjury that way. Obviously it's bad if you start to feel pain.

I did a lot of heavy bi / tri work with my right arm while my left arm was in a cast. Once I was able to use both arms, I stuck with the weights my left arm could handle even if my right arm could do more. I don't know if that's the way to go, but my arms are starting to look a lot more balanced now compared to when I got the cast removed.

[johnjl85]

I don't think there's anything wrong with feeling a pump in the injured arm if there's no pain. When I first started curls (more like hammer curls with my ROM problems), I was doing huge numbers of reps with 2 or 3 pound dbs. That's what some physical therapy protocols for this surgery recommend. I was able to get a great pump without risking reinjury that way. Obviously it's bad if you start to feel pain.

I did a lot of heavy bi / tri work with my right arm while my left arm was in a cast. Once I was able to use both arms, I stuck with the weights my left arm could handle even if my right arm could do more. I don't know if that's the way to go, but my arms are starting to look a lot more balanced now compared to when I got the cast removed.

I'm trying to do the same thing and they the arms are starting to look a little more balanced even know. When that cost got removed and probably after a few weeks in the brace there was some really hardcore atrophy in the bicep and tricep of the busted arm. Looked really weird.

[johnjl85]

Didn't work out on Friday. I was studying for a mid-term which I have tomorrow and I was pretty tired. I had class all weekend so I had no chance to workout then.

Worked out today. I did some shadow boxing, jumped rope, performed bodyweight squats, jump squats and burpees for about 30 minutes. Then I got on the stationary bike for 30 minutes. Overall felt good. Looking at the scale it seems I have gained 2 pounds since last week. Perhaps because I have a more consistent diet and I have been loading with creatine? Not sure, was unusual to see that since I have started to workout again. I'll be interested to see what that scale says next week, if I see another weight jump I may take out one of my slices of oat toast in the morning (only other carbs I have are 2 oat bars with lunch and veggies).

Arm is doing well. I have about as close to full pronation as I think I'll get. Only a little pain with pronation movements. I see my physical therpaist again on Thursday then I see the ortho on the 19th.

Tomorrow I'll try lifting weights, doing abs and doing some intervals on the treadmill.

[m314]

10/9

db shoulder press
70s - 12, 10, 9

ez bar upright rows
90 - 10, 10, 10

dips
16, 15, 14

assisted chinups
45 - 10, 9, 8

cable internal rotation
20 - 10, 10

cable external rotation
30 - 10, 10

elliptical machine
level 3 at 130 strides per minute - 20 minutes


I'm back from an amazing mini-vacation with my new girlfriend. I might have eaten just a little too much, since I was 245 this morning. I'll be back to the upper 230s by next weekend. I'm doing great with my diet during the week; I just need to keep it up on the weekends.

I'm finally getting up to "real" weights with more exercises. I'll probably try the 75s for shoulder press next week, but I can't keep going up 5 pounds a week like I've been doing. The tendon / bone connection still feels sore after workouts like today's. That's not the limiting factor anymore with most of my lifts. I had to stop my sets of assisted chinups today because of overall muscle fatigue, not from pain in the arm. At some point I'll increase the volume a little and cut back on rest times between sets.

[m314]

Didn't work out on Friday. I was studying for a mid-term which I have tomorrow and I was pretty tired. I had class all weekend so I had no chance to workout then.

Worked out today. I did some shadow boxing, jumped rope, performed bodyweight squats, jump squats and burpees for about 30 minutes. Then I got on the stationary bike for 30 minutes. Overall felt good. Looking at the scale it seems I have gained 2 pounds since last week. Perhaps because I have a more consistent diet and I have been loading with creatine? Not sure, was unusual to see that since I have started to workout again. I'll be interested to see what that scale says next week, if I see another weight jump I may take out one of my slices of oat toast in the morning (only other carbs I have are 2 oat bars with lunch and veggies).

Arm is doing well. I have about as close to full pronation as I think I'll get. Only a little pain with pronation movements. I see my physical therpaist again on Thursday then I see the ortho on the 19th.

Tomorrow I'll try lifting weights, doing abs and doing some intervals on the treadmill.

It sounds like you're doing great with the recovery. I don't think you'll have any problems from here on out unless you go all out and lift something too heavy too early.

One of the guys on the other forum, pugilistic_pilot, is a boxer too. He just posted a sparring video:

http://tendonsurgeryinfo.com/distalb...php?topic=2371

He's 12 years older than me, and he had the same complication I had (heterotopic ossification between the radius and ulna). He had to get a second surgery like I'll be getting in a couple months to fix the issue. He still made a full recovery and came back stronger than before.

[johnjl85]

I know what you mean about the weekend diet. That is something I have to get under control. Hopefully with no more all day weekend classes it won't be such a challenge.

So on Tuesday:

Circuit Routine

Barbell Box Squat--------------35LB on each side of 45LB bar 12 reps, 11 rep, 11 rep

Lat Pulldown------------------85LB 12 reps, 12 reps, 12 reps

Bent Over Row on Smith-------35LB on each side, 12 rep, 12 rep, 11 rep

Bench Press Barbell------------55LB each side, 12 rep, 12 rep, 12 rep

Standard Push-up-------------12 rep, 11 rep, 8 rep

Dumbell Shoulder Press-------- 25LB dumbells, 12 rep, 12 rep, 12 rep

Bicep Curl---------------------8LB dumbells, 12 rep, 12 rep, 12 rep

Overhead One-arm Tricep extension- 25LB dumbell first set for 12, set 2 and 3 20LB dumbell for 12 and 11 rep

30 minute on stationary bike at level 12

So overall I felt alot better today than this time last week. Right part of my back was sore on Tuesday, perhaps from the Shadow Boxing, but that didn't prevent my backworkouts, just made them more intense. I have taken the opportunity to really work on some good form with these lifts since I am pushing such light weight. With the Latpulldown I have probably used better form with pulling the shoulder blades together than I have in years. Even when I'm back fully I think I'll stick with lat pulldowns at lighter weights as I'm really feeling some good lat work even at this level.

I've also really been working the chest on bench, limiting tricep work. Makes my chest sore but I really feel like I'm hitting it the right way.

I notice some definite fatigue in the left tricep. I saw this with push-ups and one hand overhead tricep extension a lot after the first round. My right arm, good arm, could have stayed with the 25 LB or gone above that, but my left arm couldn't muster past probably 8 or 9 reps on the second round with the overhead tricep extension. Also my left elbow joint felt a little sore doing the tricep extension. Not really painful but it definetly felt sore and like it was getting worked.

I still went light with the dumbell shoulder press, again since I am "loading" the dumbell into position I want to be real careful with that. I decided to not use the smith machine as it would not provide me with full range of motion with that exercise.

The bicep dumbell curls felt good, felt like I could go beyond 8 pounds easy, but I stuck with that weight since it was the next heighest after the 5 pounds I used last week.

I did not opt to do HITT as I had planned. I was pretty worn out after 3 rounds of those exercises and there is no way I would be able to do 20 minutes of HITT. Hopefully I can do it at least once later in the week. I also wanted to do abs but again, I was pretty worn out after the weight lifting so I plan on doing abs on Wed. I do enjoy the stationary bike as it is low-impact compared to the other type of exercises I usually do, weights, boxing and intervals. I definetly plan on using the stationary or elpitical more as I recover just because I think it will help preserve my body and prevent overtraining.

[m314]

10/10

Romanian deadlifts
125 - 5 sets of 15

good mornings
135 - 5 sets of 10

hammer strength crunch machine (the one where you load plates on the side)
75 - 5 sets of 12

elliptical machine
level 3 at 130 strides per minute - 20 minutes


I'm still using baby weights for deadlifts, but I'm getting to the point where I'm getting muscle fatigue in the forearms and upper back in the last few sets. A month ago I was happy to just lift the empty bar without too much pain. My arm hurts a little after these workouts, but it's getting better every week. I should be able to go up 20 pounds a week for the next couple months until I get the next surgery done.

[m314]

10/11

db bench press
75s - 16, 16, 16, 14

db shrugs
75s - 16, 16, 16, 16

db incline bench
75s - 10, 8, 8, 7

seated cable rows
165 - 12, 12, 12, 12

cable external rotation
20 - 10, 10

cable internal rotation
30 - 10, 10

elliptical machine
level 3 at 140 strides per minute - 20 minutes with a 30 second all-out sprint every 5 minutes


I think I'm done with the 5 pound a week gains with incline bench unless I start doing those before flat bench. I don't want to go heavier if it means I'm doing less than 8 reps per set, so I'll stick with the 75s next week for incline. I feel like I'm on track to bench (flat bench) the 100s for 10+ reps before the next surgery. I don't know exactly what the next recovery will be like, but I feel like I have a shot at getting back to my old strength (120s for flat bench, 100s for incline) by next summer.

[m314]

10/12

Short workout today.

squats
135 - 10
185 - 10
250 - 10, 10, 8

hammer strength calf raises
450 - 20, 20, 18, 19


It has now been 4 months since my surgery. My original doctor told me absolutely no strength training for the first 4 months. I'm glad I never really left the gym. I'd be way out of shape and miserable right now if I had stayed out of the gym all this time.

My arm is feeling better every week. The pronation and supination won't get better until the next surgery, but the tendon / bone connection feels stronger and stronger as I slowly ramp up the weights. It's still not at 100%. It should get there over the next few months.

[m314]

10/15

db bench press
80s - 14, 14, 12, 12

db shrugs
80s - 16, 16, 16, 16

db incline bench
75s - 9, 8, 8, 8

seated cable rows
180 - 10, 10, 10, 10

cable external rotation
20 - 10, 10

cable internal rotation
30 - 10, 10

elliptical machine
level 3 at 130 strides per minute - 20 minutes

[johnjl85]

I just did some cardio on Thursday and Friday. Nothing big to report on.

I saw my physical therapist on Thursday. She said it looks like it is coming along. Still not full movement with pronation, as it is getting colder now it may take some time to really get that full motion back, or as close as I'll ever get full motion.

So today

Box Squat with Barbell 45 on each side of bar, 12 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps

Lat Pulldown 100 pounds, 12 rep, 12 rep, 12 rep

Barbell Shoulder Press 25 pounds on each side of 45 pound barbell, 12 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps

Bent over Row 25 pounds on each side of 45 pound barbell (no smith machine here) 12 reps, 12 reps, 12 reps

Barbell Bench Press 70 pounds on each side of barbell, 12 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps

Standard Push-up 12 rep, 10 rep, 9 rep

Behind the Back Tris 25 pounds- 11 reps, 20 pounds- 10 reps, 9 reps

Bicep Curl dumbell 12 pounds- 12 reps, 15 pounds 12 reps, 12 reps

Cardio on stationary at level 14 for full 30 minutes

So certainly saw some improvements on my lifts here. Cardio on bike is also getting better. When I loaded up the barbell for the standing military press I felt a little pain in my injured arm but once I performed the reps I didn't feel any pain. May be because the loading of the weight is some what of a dynamic movement, almost cleaning the weight (all be it the weight being very light) may still be too much for the bicep.

Still some weakness in my left tricep but I feel it starting to get stronger slowly. Slowly able to do more on the tricep extension. As for bench I am feeling some fatigue in the chest. I use to rep out two plates on each side rather easily, usually first round I'd knock out 13-15, round 2 and 3 I could do 10-12 without having to strain too much. So that is something I obviously still need to get back to.

Cardio is getting better, able to blast through level 14 for the full 30. I'll try to do it at level 15 for part of the time later in the week and see what I can do.

[m314]

10/16

squats
135 - 10
185 - 10
250 - 10, 10, 10

hammer strength calf raise machine
450 - 20, 20, 18, 16


Squats felt much harder last week. I almost passed out after the 8th rep in the last set at 250. Today they felt easier. My old strength is coming back slowly. For calf raises, I've been stuck around the same numbers for the past year now. I can't load more than 10 plates on this machine, and the number of reps I can do in the later sets seems to depend only on how long I rest between sets. I need to start mixing it up a little more. Maybe I'll start doing them with heavier weights on the leg press machine.

[m314]

10/17

Romanian deadlifts
145 - 15, 15, 15, 15, 15

good mornings
135 - 12, 12, 12

decline crunches
30, 30, 25, 20

elliptical machine
level 3 at 130 strides per minute - 10 minutes (had to leave early for a meeting at work)


I'm still making good progress with deadlifts. They still hurt my arm a little, but that's getting better every week as I go up in weight. I'll keep adding 20 pounds a week for now.

[johnjl85]

I did cardio on Tuesday and abs. Cardio consisted of jump rope, body weight squat, jump squat and very light bag work, I did this type of circuit for 30 minutes. Then I did some ab work and got on the stationary bike for 30 minutes riding on the level 14.

Wed I didn't work out. Had a networking event to go to that evening. Today, Thursday I'm due to see my orthopdist in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing what he says.

[m314]

10/18

I felt like sh*t today for some reason. It was one of those days where I felt like quitting after every set. I got through 16 sets, but I skipped the cardio at the end. I'll probably do mostly cardio tomorrow.

db shoulder press
75s - 8, 8, 8, 6

ez bar upright rows
100 - 10, 10, 10, 10

dips
15, 15, 12, 8

assisted neutral grip chinups
45 - 8, 8, 6, 6

[m314]

I did cardio on Tuesday and abs. Cardio consisted of jump rope, body weight squat, jump squat and very light bag work, I did this type of circuit for 30 minutes. Then I did some ab work and got on the stationary bike for 30 minutes riding on the level 14.

Wed I didn't work out. Had a networking event to go to that evening. Today, Thursday I'm due to see my orthopdist in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing what he says.

How did the appointment go? Was this the last followup appointment? It sounds like everything's going well with your recovery, so hopefully you won't have a reason to go back anymore.

I'm going in for an x ray and another appointment in a couple weeks. My new doctor expects the x ray to show that the new bone growth has fully matured. If that's the case, he'll schedule the next surgery for early December.

[m314]

10/19

dumbbell hammer curls
30s - 10, 10, 10, 10

rope pushdowns
70 - 10, 10, 10, 10

cable external rotation
20 - 10, 10, 10

cable internal rotation
30 - 10, 10, 10

elliptical machine
level 3 @ 130 strides per minute - 8 minutes plus a 2 minute sprint at the end at 180 - 200 strides per minute


I tried curls today for the first time in a while. I can only do hammer curls with no supination in the left arm, so I did the same with the right. It felt weird, not painful but more of an itch in the tendon that's hard to explain. It was definitely less painful than the last time I tried these at only 10 pounds. Right now the arm still feels "itchy" inside, but it doesn't hurt that much. I could have gone a little heavier.

[johnjl85]

How did the appointment go? Was this the last followup appointment? It sounds like everything's going well with your recovery, so hopefully you won't have a reason to go back anymore.

I'm going in for an x ray and another appointment in a couple weeks. My new doctor expects the x ray to show that the new bone growth has fully matured. If that's the case, he'll schedule the next surgery for early December.

Appointment went well. He said right now we are just in a long holding pattern. I'm going to see him again in Jan. at that point he said he might clear me to start hitting heavier weight. He said it just takes a real long time for the body to build blood vessels and connections to that dead tissue that was grafted in. Right now for direct bicep curls he wants me to stick to low weight, high reps, like around 30 reps and 10-15 pounds or use bands. I'm ok to lift moderate weight on other upperbody exercises, like bench or shoulder press.

This past Thursday I did cardio. Friday my routine went:
Round 1 Rd 2 Rd 3

Box Squat 1) 12 reps, 45lb on each side of bar 2) 12 reps, 45lb 3) 12 reps, 45 lb
Lat pulldown 1) 12 reps 130 lb 2) 11 rep 130 lb 3) 10 rep 130 lb
Bent over row, Parallel to floor 1) 12 reps 25 lb 2) 12 rep 25 lb 3) 12 rep 25 lb
Barbell Shoulder press 1) 12 rep 25 lb 2) 12 rep 25 lb 3) 12 rep 25 lb
Bench Press 1) 12 rep 70lb 2) 11 rep 70 lb 3) 12 rep 70lb
Push-up 1) 12 rep 2) 11 rep 3) 11 rep
Overhead Tricep Extension 1) 12 rep 25lb 2) 11 rep 20lb 3) 11 rep 20lb
Bicep bands 1) 30 rep 2) 30 rep 3) 30 rep
Face Pull 1) 12 rep 75lb 2) 12 rep 75 3) 12 rep 75

Felt good. Still some weakness in the left tricep but I can feel it getting stronger. I may start working the traps a bit more with shrugs in the future weeks. I did cardio on the bike for 30 minutes, 14 resistance level.

On Sat. I did heavy bag work (Ortho said it was ok to start), jump rope, squat, jump squat, jumping jacks, jump knee tuck circuit. Then I did abs. Didn't have time to ride the bike.

Overall I am feeling good. Can't complain with the progress at almost 12 weeks out.

Hopefully it turns out you can have surgery in december man. I can only imagine how frustrated you are right now with your situation.

[m314]

10/22

db bench press
85s - 12, 12, 11, 10

db shrugs
85s - 12, 12, 12, 12

db incline bench
75s - 10, 9, 8, 7

seated cable rows
195 - 10, 10, 10, 10

cable external rotation
20 - 10, 10

cable internal rotation
30 - 10, 10

elliptical machine
level 3 at 130 strides per minute - 20 minutes

[m314]

Appointment went well. He said right now we are just in a long holding pattern. I'm going to see him again in Jan. at that point he said he might clear me to start hitting heavier weight. He said it just takes a real long time for the body to build blood vessels and connections to that dead tissue that was grafted in. Right now for direct bicep curls he wants me to stick to low weight, high reps, like around 30 reps and 10-15 pounds or use bands. I'm ok to lift moderate weight on other upperbody exercises, like bench or shoulder press.

This past Thursday I did cardio. Friday my routine went:
Round 1 Rd 2 Rd 3

Box Squat 1) 12 reps, 45lb on each side of bar 2) 12 reps, 45lb 3) 12 reps, 45 lb
Lat pulldown 1) 12 reps 130 lb 2) 11 rep 130 lb 3) 10 rep 130 lb
Bent over row, Parallel to floor 1) 12 reps 25 lb 2) 12 rep 25 lb 3) 12 rep 25 lb
Barbell Shoulder press 1) 12 rep 25 lb 2) 12 rep 25 lb 3) 12 rep 25 lb
Bench Press 1) 12 rep 70lb 2) 11 rep 70 lb 3) 12 rep 70lb
Push-up 1) 12 rep 2) 11 rep 3) 11 rep
Overhead Tricep Extension 1) 12 rep 25lb 2) 11 rep 20lb 3) 11 rep 20lb
Bicep bands 1) 30 rep 2) 30 rep 3) 30 rep
Face Pull 1) 12 rep 75lb 2) 12 rep 75 3) 12 rep 75

Felt good. Still some weakness in the left tricep but I can feel it getting stronger. I may start working the traps a bit more with shrugs in the future weeks. I did cardio on the bike for 30 minutes, 14 resistance level.

On Sat. I did heavy bag work (Ortho said it was ok to start), jump rope, squat, jump squat, jumping jacks, jump knee tuck circuit. Then I did abs. Didn't have time to ride the bike.

Overall I am feeling good. Can't complain with the progress at almost 12 weeks out.

Hopefully it turns out you can have surgery in december man. I can only imagine how frustrated you are right now with your situation.

Thanks. I'm not really frustrated anymore. I'm getting stronger every week, having fun on the weekends, and enjoying life in general. I've mostly gotten used to the limited ROM for now. It feels great to be lifting "real" weights again, not counting deadlifts so far. Hopefully I won't lose too much progress with the next surgery. If everything goes well, I should be 100% healed with a full ROM and no lifting restrictions in February. I should still get back to my old strength sometime next year.

It's great that you're doing better. I don't know much about the difference in recovery times with the donor tendon, but it sounds like everything's going as planned.

[johnjl85]

Damn that is pretty good that you would be back in action in February, that is great that the recovery for the clean out of that bone growth won't be like 6 months. My ortho is being about as conservative as you can get for recovery. I can't blame him considering it is a new tendon.

So for monday:

Box Squat---------------------1) 11 reps, 60 lb each side 2) 10 reps 60 lb each side 3) 60 lb each side
Lat Pulldown-----------------1) 11 rep 130 lb 2) 15 rep 115Lb 3) 15 rep 115 lb
Bent over row----------------1) 12 rep 25 lb 2) 12 rep 25 lb 3) 12 rep 25 lb
Bench Press------------------1) 11 rep 80 lb 2) 10 rep 80 lb 3) 10 rep 80 lb
Barbell Shoulder Press-------1) 10 rep 25 lb 2) 10 rep 25 lb 3) 10 rep 25 lb
Push-up-----------------------1) 12 rep 2) 11 rep 3) 11 rep
Face Pull-----------------------1) 12 rep 100 2) 12 rep 100 3) 12 rep 100
Tricep Extension Overhead----1) 12 rep 25 lb 2) 10 rep 25 lb 3) 10 rep 25 lb
Bicep Bands--------------------1) 30 rep 2) 30 rep 3) 30 rep

So seeing a bit a strength gains here. Felt like I could do more on bench. Definetly feel chest starting to get stronger after a few weeks of lifting now. Triceps also starting to get a bit stronger. I've been using the same barbell for rows as for shoulder press so that I can keep the pace up through the rounds, i.e. not take plates on and off that barbell during my rounds. I may switch to one arm rows next time I lift this week and see how that feels. That way I'm not dependent on keeping the weight the same.

I went down on the lat pulldown. I felt like I was starting to use more bicep and momentum in the pull down at 130. I've really tried to focus on squeezing those shoulder blades together and going slow on the lat pull down to focus on the back. So I may stick to 115 for a while just for form sake.

I got on the elpitcal today. Did 30 minutes at an 8 incline and 8 resistance. Felt good to try something different from the stationary bike.

[m314]

Damn that is pretty good that you would be back in action in February, that is great that the recovery for the clean out of that bone growth won't be like 6 months. My ortho is being about as conservative as you can get for recovery. I can't blame him considering it is a new tendon.

If everything goes well, the recovery time for the next surgery should be 6 to 8 weeks. I won't have to baby the arm afterwards either except to avoid pain. There shouldn't be a weak point that could fail like after the tendon reattachment surgery. Depending on the exact position, there are some cases where they have to cut the tendon, clean out the new bone growth, and reattach the tendon. That would involve another 4+ month recovery, but that's rare. Other complications like nerve damage should be rare too. I'm mostly optimistic about it.


10/23

squats
135 - 10
185 - 10
255 - 10, 8

calf raises
450 - 20, 20, 20, 18

elliptical machine
level 3 at 130 strides per minute - 20 minutes


I came close to puking during and after my second heavy set of squats, so I pussied out on the last set. I'm thinking about changing my overall strategy for leg day. Next week I might drop the weight down to 225 for squats and throw in a few sets of leg press afterwards. That might be better for hypertrophy than putting all my energy into three heavy sets of squats. I'm trying to remind myself that I'm not a powerlifter. It might be ok to drop the intensity just a tad if I make up for it with more volume.

[m314]

10/24

Romanian deadlifts
165 - 15, 15, 15, 15, 15

good mornings
135 - 10, 10, 10

hammer strength crunch machine (with the stack of weights)
155 - 16, 16, 16, 16


I didn't have time for cardio today. I'm still not doing conventional deadlifts where I deload between every rep, since that feels jarring and a little painful in the left arm. For each set I do one conventional deadlift off the floor, do 14 Romanian deadlift reps, then put the weight back on the floor. I'm still comfortable going up 20 pounds a week for now.

[m314]

10/25

db overhead press
75s - 9, 9, 8, 8

ez bar upright rows
110 - 8, 8, 8, 8

dips
17, 15, 12, 9

assisted chinups
45 - 8, 8, 7, 6

elliptical machine
level 3 at 130 strides per minute - 20 minutes


I might drop the upright rows next week, or maybe use less weight. I'm starting to get wrist and forearm pain with those from the lack of elbow flexibility. No rotation at the elbow means the wrist is forced to move in the wrong direction. Just a temporary issue. Other than that I'm feeling good. My overall strength and endurance is coming back with time.

[Darknightbegins]

Wed. I did cardio just jump rope, heavy bag work, jump squats, jumping jacks burpee, all alternating.

Thursday I felt like crap. Tried to push through it with my circuit workout and only got through two rounds before I threw in the towel. Was a very strange feeling. I think I'm going to start cutting my lifting to once a week and up my cardio to 5 days a week. Want to drop some weight that I am having trouble with. I'm 5"10' and my weight seems to be stuck at the 210-213 level. Before surgery my weight was about 205 and I would like to get down to 200 (haven't been that in about 3 years). I feel better closer to 200 and I think I am a natural endomorph so weight gain for me happens. Damn genetics.

When I was lifting I put some more weight on my squats, went to 70 pounds on each side for box squats. Doing bench with 80 pounds on each side for 10 and 90 pounds on each side for 7. Pre surgery I was able to bench 90 for about 17 reps so clearly some loss there. On the bright side my tricep is getting better, was able to perform tricep overhead extension for 12 reps with 25 lb dumbell.

I'll try lifting again on Monday. I tend to do better lifting earlier in the week.

[m314]

10/26

db hammer curls
35 - 10, 10, 10

rope pushdowns
75 - 10, 10, 10

elliptical machine
level 4 at 140 strides per minute - 20 minutes


I need to cut back on the upper body volume a little next week. The arm hurts a lot after today's workout, meaning I pushed things a little too far. It should feel better next week if I cut back on the volume and maybe drop the upright rows. It's just hard to cut back when I'm making good progress in terms of strength.

[kanelouis]

I ruptured my left distal biceps tendon on June 4 while deadlifting. I described the injury here:



I had surgery to reattach the tendon on June 12. I spent the first 2 weeks after surgery with my arm immobilized in a hard splint. During this time I exercised at home, doing things like body weight squats, body weight calf raises, crunches, etc.

I spent the next 4 weeks in a full arm cast. I started going back to the gym 6 days a week doing an improvised machine style of workout. Upper body 3 days a week, lower body 3 days a week, and cardio every day following the weights. I described that workout plan here:



I had the cast removed at 6 weeks post op. That's when I started doing light machine presses and rows along with squats and good mornings. Last week (week 8), I started using dumbbells instead of the machine presses and rows.

As of now (week 9), I'm almost back to my old workout plan. I'm still not doing deadlifts (deadlifting just the bar causes pain), and I'm using extremely light weights for everything involving the upper body. I'm able to fully flex and extend the elbow, but I still have wrist and forearm pain from my arm being immobilized for so long. I don't have full range of motion yet for pronation and supination, which means I can't do barbell bench / incline bench / overhead press yet. I'm doing physical therapy twice a week to work on the range of motion.

This was my workout yesterday, 8/13:

Dumbbell bench
25 pounds - 3 sets of 25 (I was doing 14 reps with the 120s before the injury)

Dumbbell one arm row
25 pounds - 3 sets of 25 (I could do 8 or 9 at 120 preinjury)

Dumbbell incline bench
25 pounds - 3 sets of 25

Dumbbell shrugs
25 pounds - 3 sets of 30

Dumbbell curls
10 pounds - 3 sets of 25

Cable pushdowns
40 pounds - 3 sets of 20

Cable external rotation (rehab for an old shoulder injury)
20 pounds - 1 set of 10

Cable internal rotation
20 pounds - 1 set of 10

Today I'll do squats and calf raises. Tomorrow I'll do good mornings (in place of deadlifts) along with weighted crunches and back extensions. Thursday will be assisted dips, assisted pullups, db overhead press, upright rows, curls, and cable pushdowns. Friday will be leg day #2, probably a mix of lighter squats and leg presses.

My goal is to get back to my old size and strength. I can't push things too quickly, since it's supposed to take a full 16 weeks before the tendon / bone connection is 100%. I'm planning on staying with mostly higher rep workouts for now while gradually increasing the weights. At some point I'll be lifting heavy again in the 8 to 12 rep range.

Your saying that you got the hard cast off and immediately started on weights? I would think you'd have to go through a lot of stretching first. I got my cast off at two weeks and brace on. At three weeks now and pain in bicep and forearm seem to be getting worse .

[m314]

Your saying that you got the hard cast off and immediately started on weights? I would think you'd have to go through a lot of stretching first. I got my cast off at two weeks and brace on. At three weeks now and pain in bicep and forearm seem to be getting worse .

I started on weights at day 13 after the surgery. That meant lifting with the hard cast for the first month. I could still do certain modified machine lifts for chest, back, and shoulders (along with legs and abs) with the cast. When I got the cast off, I switched to using different weight machines for a couple weeks before going back to dumbbells.

I think it's normal to have that pain in the early stages. The pain was mostly gone for me by week 3, but that's because the arm was immobilized in the cast. The pain came back at week 6 when the cast was removed. By then it was too late for stretching to get my regular range of motion back. You're lucky (or you found the right doctor) if you got your cast removed at 2 weeks. The longer you keep the arm immobilized, the less chance you'll have at getting full range of motion back afterwards.