Posts Tagged ‘rotator cuff’

I have had five acupuncture treatments & one cupping

You can get your own TENs & cupping sets and ask the acupuncturist for a program to apply on your self – I intend to do that next week

I am trying to regain full strength after my recovery – as ever its a slow process with rotator cuff injury.

The average time for recovery from a rotator cuff injury OR surgery is nine months. It may take six for some people & twelve for others to get to the same point but for all it will be eighteen months before you are really back to your old self – if indeed you do heal.

So now at eight months (sounds like a pregnancy) I am pretty good. Certainly everyday it gets a small percentage better & I have noticed this all along.

Now I can do full body (100+ kg) hangs easily without pain. I can do light lat pulldowns, even pec deck flyes without pain. But only light.

The two exercises I am not doing are overhead press & bench press – I will wait another six months for those.

I have lost no strength apart from the shoulder. That’s because I kept training from day one of the injury – just avoiding the shoulder.

You may as well take time out & focus on other stuff.

1: GRIP – you can train grip until the cows come home with an RC injury & it will come in handy too during the later phase of physio when you are doing a lot of bar hangs to open the shoulder joint. Early on bar hangs will not be possible due to bursitis & pain. Don’t worry in a few months you will hang with strength.

2: HIIT cycling – On a real outside bike & inside on the incumbent machine. My cardio is up & my thighs are pumped. Also a dramatic increase in erections with the real outside cycle sprints. I do have a special two piece seat to protect my gonadal circulation. That’s important as cycling with a normal seat that sticks up your ass definitely causes impotence & probably prostate disorders too.

3: Core training – Go hard its no problem with an RC injury.

OK that’s it for 6-8 months give your shoulders a rest apart from a strict physio discipline.

What have I learned form my injury?

1: To periodize a joint centric program of physio based protocols. To get my joint structures prepared for the ravages of life beyond 50 which for me is a year from now.

2: To use SARMS, Peptides & HRT when possible as well as other anti aging protocols.

3: To partake of life’s pleasures & maintain a sense of humor.

Sadly a month back one of my old school buddies killed himself after 18 months with a broken ankle & torn ligaments. I know another guy that did the exact same thing a few years ago but he had snapped both Achilles completely & had the ankles fused in surgery. Frankly both guys would have been better off with amputated feet & prosthetics.

Anyway I enjoy chasing the young ladies far to much to consider topping myself.

I have never had any shoulder injury or weakness in 32 years of lifting. 3 and a half weeks back I did an 80lb weight vest session. As I put the vest on I kind of dropped it onto my shoulders in an awkward position. I noticed some minor shoulder pain but continued.

The shoulder pain is minor but has persisted for all this time nearly a month now. I knew all along it was rotator cuff when it did not go away after a couple of days. Thus I have been doing the standard things. Rest initially, I did not ICE but should have on the first & second day. Total cessation of overhead & bench press. Many exercises have zero pain such as heavy side holds with KB’s. Isometric press in a doorway. Most isometrics dont hurt. Kettlebell swings dont hurt.

What does hurt is anything overhead or behind my back. I am lucky its a level one tear only. I went to physio on Monday and he tested it out, said I have bursitis and a possible tear but my pain levels and range of motion are good.

I went for xrays and ultrasound today which revealed a small subscapularis tendon tear, bursitis and inflamation.

So I am in for a couple of months of physio – possibly a bit more to get it back to heavy overhead lifting. Certainly two months to normal use.

Lots of isometrics and rotator cuff stuff. Its surprising with this injury – which incedentally I have always feared, it hurts much less than I thought. But I only have a small tear. The ultrasound technician said most of the pain will be from the bursitis and inflamation not the tear.

Honestly it does not hurt much but I am not dumb. This is a potential disaster if the tear gets worse or comes back so I have altered my exercise accordingly.

Not the end of the world, life goes on & training goes on.