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Perhaps nothing is more frustrating to a bodybuilder than a training injury, for it halts our progress and screws with our minds! I was in week-4 of my cycle, and it was going GREAT, having gained about 25#, with good strength gains too. Now, I always train careful--good form, lots of warm-up and stretching and all--I'm 38, after all, and the older you get, the more important that all becomes! I'm in the gym to build my body, not to show off how much I can bench or squat. It always cracks me up when I see some "big guy"(in his own mind) strutting around the gym after doing 495# squats like he's Markus Ruhl, when in fact he was squatting all of four inches range of motion!!!! I can't stand cocky idiots like that.
My point is I lift powerfully and agressively, but carefully and with full ROM for most lifts. But here I was two weeks ago away from home, training in NY at the 19th St. Gym, a really cool gym I train at when in NY. Since I only train there ocassionaly, it's not like training at your home gym, where you get in a groove--you have to look around a bit more for equipment, etc. I had a really great pyramid bench workout, and I was moving on to this Hammer Incline machine that is kind of funky in that it starts in the fully "hypo-"extended (all the way down) position. Well, I looked back in my training journal to the last time I used that machine two months ago, and I somehow skipped a line and read the wrong amount, loading about 30% more weight on than I should have. Even though this is an awkward machine, I did not ask for a lift off; as I started the lift-ZAP- I felt a strain in my left pec. Still, the rest of my workout went GREAT. The pec was a bit sore for a few days, but seemed back to normal after that.
THEN last week, 6 days after that workout, I was training here in Orlando at my home gym. The pec was bothering me a bit, but I ignored it. I was midway through my pyramid on the bench, with my partner spotting me when-RIP-my left pec just TORE. I could feel it twitch and shake, completed the rep. and racked it. I knew I was hurt bad, so I abandoned the workout. Within a few hours, it had swelled so much (despite icing) and hurt so bad, we went to an urgent care clinic. An MRI was done the next day, and thank God, the muscle is all still attached, although it is a sizeable tear and had a large hematoma (blood swelling.)
Over the next few days, the area bruised to the point where I now have a bruise covering part of the pec, and running down my whole bicep to my elbow. As my neighbor says, "It looks like someone beat me with a baseball bat."
After a few days off, I've been slowly training around this--legs on machines only one day, just abs and tri's on machines another day, etc. with lots of time off. I've learned from past injuries not to rush the injured part. Still, psycholgically this can really FUCK with you! We all spend so much time and effort training, dieting, injecting, etc. And then this happens... SHIT! I spent a week KICKING and CURSING myself for being so STUPID, for the only reason this happend was my careless misloading of the rack in NY and then ignoring the warning signs that occurred early in my bench the next week.
But HERE'S WHAT FINALLY HELPED:
1. YOU'RE NOT ALONE! Search the site for other injury reports. Misery loves company, and you realize you're not the only one in the world who has gotten injured while training. Get some ideas for therapies to speed your recovery. B-Fold-The-truth made some especially helpful statements. Flex mag had a great inspirational piece too about Jean Pierre Fux's recent dual-quad tear just before the Night of Champions. Here he had been severely injured just before a contest, and they write of his great spirit. And here I was crying, "Why me" and "What a stupid fucking idiot," etc. etc.
2. GET OVER THAT ATTITUDE. I finally realized that, no matter how dumb my mistake was, EVERYONE makes mistakes in their lives, and some are WAY more serious than mine was. This will set my training back a bit, but I'm still alive and very healthy! Think of how many folks end up dead or diasabled every year for their dumb mistakes--falling off roofs, drinking and driving, running red lights, etc. etc. etc. Plus all that negative thinking creates lots of hormones/free radicals that increase catabolism and only strip more muscle.
3. HAVE A PLAN, but be flexible. Mine is to see a sports injury specialist, while still carefully training around the injury. For now that still means no shoulders, back, or obviously chest. But soon, I'll be back to very light weights in those areas while the tear heals and likely normal strength will return quickly after that. But don't say, "Ill be back to my regular bench in three weeks." Be flexible and careful as you see how your body is healing. As B Fold The Truth said, "If it feels good, physically, or psychologically, do it!"
4. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. I've learned from this:
-Pay more attention to the equipment I'm using when in unfamiliar gyms (I travel alot.)
-Don't be shy about asking for a spot when I don't know anyone in the gym (again due to traveling alot)
-Always get a liftoff/spot when going heavy, esp. with awkward machines where you start out in a low position.
-Listen to your body. "No pain no gain" is true only to a point. If your body is screaming for attention, LISTEN TO IT!
-If it's a muscle injury, and your on a cycle, stay on your gear. It will only help the muscle heal faster. (This might be different for a joint injury.)
Just realizing you've learned from your mistake can make you feel better about it.
Well, I just wanted to vent, and I hope this is helpful to others too.
-FLmuscles
My point is I lift powerfully and agressively, but carefully and with full ROM for most lifts. But here I was two weeks ago away from home, training in NY at the 19th St. Gym, a really cool gym I train at when in NY. Since I only train there ocassionaly, it's not like training at your home gym, where you get in a groove--you have to look around a bit more for equipment, etc. I had a really great pyramid bench workout, and I was moving on to this Hammer Incline machine that is kind of funky in that it starts in the fully "hypo-"extended (all the way down) position. Well, I looked back in my training journal to the last time I used that machine two months ago, and I somehow skipped a line and read the wrong amount, loading about 30% more weight on than I should have. Even though this is an awkward machine, I did not ask for a lift off; as I started the lift-ZAP- I felt a strain in my left pec. Still, the rest of my workout went GREAT. The pec was a bit sore for a few days, but seemed back to normal after that.
THEN last week, 6 days after that workout, I was training here in Orlando at my home gym. The pec was bothering me a bit, but I ignored it. I was midway through my pyramid on the bench, with my partner spotting me when-RIP-my left pec just TORE. I could feel it twitch and shake, completed the rep. and racked it. I knew I was hurt bad, so I abandoned the workout. Within a few hours, it had swelled so much (despite icing) and hurt so bad, we went to an urgent care clinic. An MRI was done the next day, and thank God, the muscle is all still attached, although it is a sizeable tear and had a large hematoma (blood swelling.)
Over the next few days, the area bruised to the point where I now have a bruise covering part of the pec, and running down my whole bicep to my elbow. As my neighbor says, "It looks like someone beat me with a baseball bat."
After a few days off, I've been slowly training around this--legs on machines only one day, just abs and tri's on machines another day, etc. with lots of time off. I've learned from past injuries not to rush the injured part. Still, psycholgically this can really FUCK with you! We all spend so much time and effort training, dieting, injecting, etc. And then this happens... SHIT! I spent a week KICKING and CURSING myself for being so STUPID, for the only reason this happend was my careless misloading of the rack in NY and then ignoring the warning signs that occurred early in my bench the next week.
But HERE'S WHAT FINALLY HELPED:
1. YOU'RE NOT ALONE! Search the site for other injury reports. Misery loves company, and you realize you're not the only one in the world who has gotten injured while training. Get some ideas for therapies to speed your recovery. B-Fold-The-truth made some especially helpful statements. Flex mag had a great inspirational piece too about Jean Pierre Fux's recent dual-quad tear just before the Night of Champions. Here he had been severely injured just before a contest, and they write of his great spirit. And here I was crying, "Why me" and "What a stupid fucking idiot," etc. etc.
2. GET OVER THAT ATTITUDE. I finally realized that, no matter how dumb my mistake was, EVERYONE makes mistakes in their lives, and some are WAY more serious than mine was. This will set my training back a bit, but I'm still alive and very healthy! Think of how many folks end up dead or diasabled every year for their dumb mistakes--falling off roofs, drinking and driving, running red lights, etc. etc. etc. Plus all that negative thinking creates lots of hormones/free radicals that increase catabolism and only strip more muscle.
3. HAVE A PLAN, but be flexible. Mine is to see a sports injury specialist, while still carefully training around the injury. For now that still means no shoulders, back, or obviously chest. But soon, I'll be back to very light weights in those areas while the tear heals and likely normal strength will return quickly after that. But don't say, "Ill be back to my regular bench in three weeks." Be flexible and careful as you see how your body is healing. As B Fold The Truth said, "If it feels good, physically, or psychologically, do it!"
4. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. I've learned from this:
-Pay more attention to the equipment I'm using when in unfamiliar gyms (I travel alot.)
-Don't be shy about asking for a spot when I don't know anyone in the gym (again due to traveling alot)
-Always get a liftoff/spot when going heavy, esp. with awkward machines where you start out in a low position.
-Listen to your body. "No pain no gain" is true only to a point. If your body is screaming for attention, LISTEN TO IT!
-If it's a muscle injury, and your on a cycle, stay on your gear. It will only help the muscle heal faster. (This might be different for a joint injury.)
Just realizing you've learned from your mistake can make you feel better about it.
Well, I just wanted to vent, and I hope this is helpful to others too.
-FLmuscles
