Patience.
Ask my mom, Jodi, the one trait that God surely did not bless me with an abundance of, and she would undoubtedly say patience.
Age has helped with that. As has being a business owner – thanks to all of you, haha!
And of course, kids have helped as well.
In the context of this post though, I’m referring to my injury.
In my post two weeks ago, I detailed the back injury that I suffered. While I still don’t know exactly how I did it, I do have a much clearer picture on it. I’ll save that for another post. I’d like to expound upon how my recovery has progressed because I’ve had many of you reach out to not only wish me well, but also ask how things are going.
In short, my back is feeling MUCH MUCH better. Two weeks ago, I couldn’t hardly walk without keeling over. Not just from sheer pain but simply because my body wouldn’t let me support my own weight for anything longer than 8 seconds.
The first step I took back into the gym was Friday evening, about 48 hours after the injury occurred. I coached a bit that evening and Saturday morning but was laid up most of the weekend.
I continued getting treatment into the next week along with all the home stuff I could control on my own – food choices, anti-inflammatory help (fish oil, turmeric), and sleep. Gosh, I love sleep.
Exactly one week post-injury, my coach sent over the workout below for me to complete. (Its worth mentioning that without the context of my prior training history, this can seem like a lot. Its not.) It was important that I not stay down and still – I simply had to get moving. It was even Doctors orders. Movement is a good thing – you risk further damage by sitting idly by and doing nothing.
A1. Close Grip Bench Press
7-9×4; rest 3 min
A2. Sorensen hold
30-45 sec x 4 sets; rest 2 min
B1. mixed MAP10 (aerobic base work)
40 min easy:
12 walking lunges
10 ring pushups – deep, with full external rotation as a pause in the top
10 BJSD 24″ (I used a 20″ box the first 4 rounds)
8 renegade rows 20#/h
50 jump rope singles
rest walk 20 sec (I increased this to 30-45s each round)
Since that was on Wednesday, I took the next 36 hours as rest and treatment days. On Friday evening, this is what I did:
A1. Segmented Snatch Grip Deadlift – 3 Pauses
chin tucked, w/straps, pause just off ground, just below knee, and at power position, control quiet to floor; 5,5,5; rest 3:30
A2. Barbell Overhead Carry
15m ub x 3 sets; rest 2:30
B1. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
60 degrees ideal, low elbows in bottom @30X1; 10-12×3; rest 2:30
B2. Sorensen hold
45-60 sec x 3 sets; rest 2 min
So here is where I’ll get real with you – on Friday evening, after being on my feet coaching all day, coupled with the training you see above, I sent Mandy this text: “No chance you’d want to bring my ice pack up here is there? I hate to ask but it’s hurting today.”
At that point, my back was tired and sore. None of the lifting had been done heavy at all (I am smarter than that), but with everything combined, it was beyond what my body was ready for.
And so I dug deep down and came away with some more patience. I think its important to share all of this with you guys for two reasons:
- To show you that I take my health seriously and will take a step back when needed
- To lead by example. If we tell you to rest when you hurt something but you don’t see us doing that, then why would you bother taking our advice?
On Monday, I did a little bit of barbell and pull-up work on my own, but it only lasted about 12 minutes. On Tuesday, I did even less. I rested today and will see how things feel tomorrow.
So, when will I start tossing heavy weights around?
I don’t know. But I can say this – I’m feeling 100% better. Which means that I’m going to give myself another 10-14 days of recovery before jumping back in.
Many of you wonder what I’m training for…I’ll write about that soon too.
