pani_k

iTrader: (1)

If you don't want to read the whole lot scroll down to the last sentence.

I've been weight training for about 4-5 years and I'm currently 22. I would say the last 2 years or so have really seen me pile on a good amount of lean muscle and I was feeling my strongest and looked in absolutely fantastic shape back in about July of this year. I'm a smidge under 5ft 8 and weighed 12st (77kg) and I was 6.4% body fat and was feeling great and training well.

Back in 2009 I switched gyms and went to another gym that really fucked me up. One because it was actually a worse gym than the one I was at and two it caused me an injury that has been plaguing me ever since. I damaged my left shoulder on a Bench/Squat rack whereby the hooks that hold the bar protrude so far out that I had to unrack the bar with my shoulders going backwards and racking it by moving them backwards too and it caused a rotator cuff tear in that cannot be repaired as it is too small and also some joint issues. I don't know if the rotator cuff is the underlying issue or not but regardless I had an operation on the 12th August which resulted in them cleaning up the joint, shaving off a bit of bone and decompressing the joint. Reason I had the operation was because the shoulder was very slightly niggling at me and wouldn't go away and to be honest after all that time I just learnt to deal with it but I thought to myself if I don't deal with it I may cause myself larger issues in the future so went ahead with an op.

I was in a lot of pain as you can imagine and I hit the gym 4 weeks after the op doing stretching only and next to no resistance training. The doctor told me I would be back up to scratch within no time as it wasn't an intrusive operation. This doc however, looked like he enjoyed his curries and his pies a bit too much though so by training, the fat cunt must've thought I meant some crappy light weight training and cardio work, not proper weight sessions and also boxing. My first month or so was incredibly hard. I lost motivation, I put on 3-4 kg and went up to 15% body fat and was generally weak. My muscles had deflated and I was proper feeling shit.

It has been 3 months since the operation and I'm training harder and with more weight but I'm still carrying pain in my left shoulder quite badly and I'm having to train though it. The whole point of the operation was to get rid of the pain and to sort the joint out although the opposite seems to be true. I am dealing with even more pain now through training as a result of the operation but I know operations take time to heal fully. I feel like I've hit a plateau where I am gritting my teeth and training with the pain to do a workout and I'm getting pissed off because 1) it hurts more than it did pre op and 2) I've gone backwards in terms of strength, condition, size and mass and can't even work myself up to the level I was pre op because of the pain.

What I am asking really is have any of you had operations where you've been out from the gym for a lengthy period and how did you deal with it?

Supplements I'm taking: Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM. Used to take Cissus before this and thinking of switching back to it.

Kieron

Yep, two. One where I weas bed ridden for a long time and I lost all my size.

To deal with it you just get back into the saddle and crack on. Muscle memory will help and you will soon gain your size back.

As for your injury have you tried dislocations?

pani_k

iTrader: (1)

Dislocations?

Coldo

I was set back by a pretty bad arm break about 20months ago now.

Spiral fracture in my left humerus. The bone between my elbow and shoulder. Was in cast/strapped up for 4months.

Lost alot of size, couldn't lift at all. Kept some light cardio up to keep the fat off but not alot.


I'd say within 4 months back in the gym i was more or less where i was before. Strength wise i wasn't, probably due to a bit of fear of going super heavy incase i injured it again.

Basically just took it easy for 6-8 weeks. Light weights, making sure i could do the movement correctly without pain. Once i was sure it was ok, i'd up the weight.

Only thing i found an issue was working arms directly. Bicep curls and tricep extensions usually brought a few days of pain/numbness in the arm so basically never worked arms directly for a while. Instead kept up with pulling/pusing exercises (deadlifts/benchpress/rows/pulldowns), which hit my arms indirectly.

It seriously all about taking your time. Just let your body heal naturally, don't push it and make sure you are getting the nutrients you need. Take a decent multivitamin, drink plenty etc... it'll all come together.

Kieron

Easier to google them mate. Start off with a towel for the added flexability it goes you.

As coldo said though, it all takes time and patience. Just keep on at it and before you know it you will be long past where you were before the op.