Injury :( But now I think I am ready to go again! What is the best approach?

[beerceps]

Hello I am new to the forum. I have done a little reading but finally decided to post some questions.

I injured my rotator cuff late last year and like a dumbass I decided to just work through the pain. I finally had it looked at in the Spring and it turns out I had a severe tear. Long story short: I had a repair and have been off of all resistance training for the last 6 months. I didnt do any kind of exercise at all for about 3 months after the surgery. But started using a recumbent bike and then on to a stationary bike.

I have just now started jogging again but havent yet made the leap to resistance. I can do a few pushups without pain but I am extremely weak. That coupled with the fact that I didnt adjust my diet to match my inactivity has left me feeling like crap.

What is a good workout for recovery? I was really hitting 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler hard before I injured myself.

Should I focus on cardio at first to burn off some of this fat or go straight into strength gaining?

I was thinking of going with full body circuits every other day with 5k's on the treadmill in between. A diet of lean protein and low calorie.

Does this sound right?

 

[donjob]

your training should be dependant on your goals, but whatever approach to strength training you choose, i would start slowly with any pressing movements or heavy rowing and gradually get back into it. any reason you didn't continue to train legs and core? you could have also been doing body weight back extensions or even light weighted back extensions holding the weight with your good arm. you sorta fucked yourself bro but atleast you want to get back in the game. at the first sign of pain in that shoulder i would immediately stop and get checked out before continuing.

 

[beerceps]

I guess I could have continued on doing body weight lunges and squats. But I didn't want to hold any weights at all. I have started back into doing incline situps on a bench every morning when I wake up. Good eye opener and gets me pumped for the day.

 

[meloyelo7337]

Light weight shoulder exercises to build up the muscles. Start with only 8 rep sets. Ice after for swelling. That is pretty much what the orthopedic surgeon for the 76s told me to do when I had tears in my forearm tendon..... my legs got strong during that injury.
Good luck..... You're going to feel good at some point n try to go heavy..... try not to.

 

[zephyr_987]

you should have never stopped working out... physical therapy should have kept you active. but whats done is done. do start hitting weights again. ease yourself back into it. hit each body part once a week, just keep the weights relatively light to ease your joints back into shape as to not get injured again. do cardio 3-5 days a week. and keep your diet in check. good luck with the remainder of your recovery

 

[crazybaked]

When I started back after my AC separation I did light weight high rep circuit training and worked all the tendons and ligaments more than any muscle then went into DB presses and flys.. working shoulders hurts like hell still, but no pain no gain... right.?

 

[beerceps]

Wow, you guys must have much bigger cojones then me. I was in an arm immobilizer for 6 weeks and barely wanted to move. Physical Therapists still has me doing rubber bands, but I feel like they are going to slow for some one of my athletic ability. Even though I am out of shape from injury I still feel like I am better off then the average slob american.

Just a side question but how do you guys feel about dynamic exercises like picking up sand bags and tossing them, flipping over tires, sledgehammers, etc.. I really like that practical stuff. It makes me feel like a beast.

Thanks again for the good training advice. This is a great board.

 

[crazybaked]

Just a side question but how do you guys feel about dynamic exercises like picking up sand bags and tossing them, flipping over tires, sledgehammers, etc.. I really like that practical stuff. It makes me feel like a beast.

Thanks again for the good training advice. This is a great board.

If you're out of shape like you say then don't touch these, it'll put the hurt on those tendons and ligaments... you could easily tear something.. I went thru physical terrorism for a year, then 6 months of weekly chiropractor visits and massage appointments.. I still do burnouts 3x's a week with bands and I always work up to heavy wight.. on chest days I'll end up doing 6-8 sets @12/12/10/10/8/8 etc... otherwise I can't work thru the pain.. good luck and keep pushing!

 

[crazybaked]

I just had a sling.. dr's in the backwoods are retarded.. next I'm going to a pain management clinic.. I think they're gonna look at me and laugh when I ask for pain management.. but its worth a try.. kinda getting tired of self-medicating.

 

[donjob]

yeah stay away from the dynamic exercises until you get back into lifting shape. i wouldn't touch dynamic exercises until you are lifting 80-90% of what you once were.