Tuesday

AM

20:00 AirDyne

+
ROM/mobility

PM

A) 3 rounds

1000m row @ Z1
:60 walk rest
1 mile Assault Bike
:60 walk rest

B) Not for time

400m sled drag, moderate/tough

row ~2:19/500m
bike ~49 RPM

~ 11 minutes with 105 on the sled (not moderate)

Tuesday

AM
A) Not for time
1500m row @ Z1
2 mile Assault Bike
800m moderate sled drag - 80

AM2 @ MobilityFit
As a warm up:

Crossover Symmetry 

Z press, PVC 

Assisted pull-ups 

+ 

3 sets: 

TRX lat pull-downs 

overhead walking with earthquake bar, oranges and 15s

+ 

split jerk tech work with BK 

+ 

3 sets: 

assisted dip progressions 

banded strict pull-ups 

+ 

3 sets: 

hammer curl, 15/hand 

bicep curl, 10/hand 

tricep pull down, red band 

eccentric of pull-up, as slow as possible

PM
off

My shoulder is doing something hella weird, and I don't like it. The tendons in the front, just medial to the scar (bicep tendon? coracobrachialis? anterior delt? pec?) are snapping/clicking with any sort of internal or external rotation. It's been happening for a few weeks, and I mentioned it to Tim, who said that with the amount of surgery I'd had, he wasn't worried about a little clicking, but it's getting steadily more prevalent. You can feel it through the skin, it's very strange and a bit unsettling. My shoulder has also been much more achy in the last couple of days than it has in a long time, which may be completely unrelated and due to the change in weather, or the increase in movements over the past week. Drew said he isn't concerned, but it's hard for me to just let it go, considering the history.

Drew attacked the soft tissue to try to get it to calm down - cupping, graston and dry needling with stim - none of which helped with the clicking, and made it rather pissed off in general.

FML. This just keeps dragging on and on and on and on, doesn't it?

PS - split jerks felt totally fine (training bar only), but I tried one push jerk and it was AWFUL, definitely not ready for that yet. It's weird that you need more ROM for a push jerk than a split jerk, but apparently, you do. Or, at least, I do. 

Tuesday

AM @ MobilityFit
5:00 Assault bike
+
3 sets:
ROM exercises
+
3 sets:
Pull-ups, assisted by legs
Z-press, PVC
Plank progressions
+
Tested out:
single-unders
double-unders
active dead hang from the bar
+
3 sets:
overhead earthquake bar hold, oranges and 15s
+
3 sets:
strict press, earthquake bar, oranges and 10s - limited to 3-5 reps per set
Crossover symmetry
TRX lat pull-downs
+
3 sets, 10 each:
3-way bicep curl, 10/hand
floor press, 25/hand
1-arm dumbbell row, 30/hand
Tricep pull-down, cut red band

PM
Not for time:
1000m row @ Z1
400m light sled drag
1000m row @ Z1
400m light sled drag
1000m row @ Z1

complete with 45 on the sled

row ~2:20/500m

just under 30:00

Good day at PT. Things are progressing, even if it is at a glacial pace. It's something.

Tuesday

AM @ MobilityFit
10:00 Assault bike, 47 RPMs, with arms
+
mobility + trigger point work
+
3 sets:
Crossover Symmetry
Lateral wall walks
Vertical wall walks
Z-press, PVC
3-way delt raise, unweighted
Tricep pull-down, 10 with skinny black band
3-way bicep curl, 10/hand
Floor press, 20/hand
1-arm dumbbell row, 25/hand
Front rack position work
+
just to test it out:
hang power cleans, 33lb bar
assisted pull-ups

PM @ CSC
800m sled drag, 75 from waist


TODAY WAS THE BEST DAY EVER.

My shoulder feels good for the second day in a row. The only discomfort I feel is due to the capsule being over-tightened (and it's definitely uncomfortable), but I know exactly what I'm feeling, and I know that it's normal, and that it will get better.

Drew added in some front rack positional work, basically just approaching the bar and unracking it and re-racking it, over and over and over. It definitely got better the more I did it, but I still can't externally rotate enough to get a good position. We tested out some hang power cleans with the empty bar at the end, and this was fantastic. This was the first time I've lifted a bar like that since JANUARY.  JANUARY.  SEVEN MONTHS. Front rack position isn't good enough yet to add weight, but I'm so happy to feel the bar in my hands again.

Happy to start working on strict pull-ups, too. Heavily assisted by legs, and not full extension at the bottom, but it's something. My two goals to consider this a successful rehab are to be able to clean something heavy and to do strict pull-ups, so this was a major, major step in the right direction today.

Also it was a gorgeous day for a sled drag. Felt way heavier than I was expecting, so I cut it shorter than planned.

Monday

AM @MobilityFit

15:00 Assault bike @ Z1, with arms, 46-48 RPMs

+

Dry needling and cupping (death)

+

5:00 Assault bike @ Z1, with arms, 46-48 RPMs

+

3 sets

Wall climbs 

Active flexion 

Internal/external rotation 

3-way bicep curl 

Banded tricep pull down 

CS rows, purple 

Easy row, feet on the ground 

Isometric RC series (only 2 sets) 

PM @CSC 

800m sled drag, 80

+

10:00 Assault bike @ Z2, alternating with/without arms every 0:60 but keeping 51-54 RPMs throughout; 84 calories 

+

10:00 Assault bike @ Z1, no arms, 43-45 RPMs


Ok, I'm starting to believe that my shoulder is actually improving. Lowest pain to date in the last couple of days, hovering around a 4/10 for the most part, with some moments where I get a sharp reminder, and some moments where I completely forget about it. Still doing the high dose tylenol and ibuprofen and ice. Drew said the goal this week is not to exceed a 6/10, but he expects it to fluctuate day to day for a while still.

I've gotten used to the dry needling, so even though there are some days which are particularly terrible, I'm not really surprised by it anymore. But the cupping? Jesus. Kirk did it once after the first surgery like 10 days out and reopened one of the portals, then we never did it again. Drew did it on my eval after the second surgery, but not near the scar, he was on mid/posterior delt only. Today he just got them out without saying anything and put them directly over the scar and this was so terrible in a completely different and weird way. I was sure that the scar was ripping open and that I was bleeding. I could tell that it was superficial, but it still stung like a bitch. A little warning would have been nice.

ROM is SO MUCH BETTER. Like, crazy better, at least with flexion. Internal/external rotation are still super limited. And happy to add in the tricep extensions, I miss my triceps.

Getting pretty comfortable using my arms on the bike. Shoulder still gets sore/tired, but it's encouraging to be able to hit this kind of pace. Success!

Wednesday

AM @home

20:00 Airdyne, no arms, 42-44 RPMs

+

5:00 Airdyne with arms, 30-32 RPMs

PM @CSC
800m sled drag, 75


Shoulder felt better yesterday. Meh. 

Tuesday

AM @MobilityFit

2 sets:

Assault bike, with easy arms! 

Wall climbs with fingers 

Hinged flexion stretch 

Internal/external rotations 

3-way bicep curls 

CS rows, purple 

Easy ROM on the erg, feet on the ground 

Forearm rolling on the table 

Isometric RC holds, 6 ways 

+

Trigger point work with a ball 

PM @CSC

400m sled drag, 75

+

20:00 Assault bike, alternating:

5:00 with arms (30-35 RPMs)

5:00 no arms (48-50 RPMs)


You know that feeling on the first day of spring, when it's sunny and almost a little bit warm, and you are shocked to realize just how depressed you were in the months where it was gloomy and cold?

That's how I felt this morning when my shoulder felt better for the second day in a row.

We went from an 8/10 at rest last week, to a 7/10 at rest yesterday and a 6/10 at rest today. It's still painful enough to be distracting, but it's manageable. And, it's not nearly as stiff.  Still severely limited ROM, but a dramatic improvement in both day to day activities as well as exercises at MobilityFit. Still taking it very, very slow, but I'm encouraged by progress.

Skyped with Mike this afternoon. It kind of hit me just how much our working relationship has evolved, and how my goals are completely different right now than they were 6 months ago. We've been working together for exactly one year, and the first 6 months were kind of really stressful in trying to optimize macros for performance + body comp, and feeling like if I was off by more than 2g in any direction, that it would throw off the whole experiment. It was worth it though. I learned what works for me, I learned a lot about myself, and I was the leanest I'd ever been.

The last 6 months have been very stressful in a different way, for many obvious reasons. At first, I felt like I needed Mike to keep me accountable so that I wouldn't get fat without being able to train like I was used to. And that remains true, to some extent. But, while I'm tracking macros and loosely trying to stay in the ballpark of some numbers, I realized that having Mike has kept me from going crazy throughout this whole thing. I've always had issues with food and alcohol, and I've definitely had days (okay, weeks) in the past few months where I literally say "fuck it" and use food and alcohol to self-medicate. The biggest thing Mike has done for me, and continues to do for me, is to keep me sane. I'm finding balance in eating like a normal person who keeps active, and occasionally eats too much, or goes to happy hour, but generally makes healthy choices. I've never done this. Ever. I've always swung from the extremes, from alcoholic/binge-eating/crash-dieting/repeat, to weighing grams of broccoli/being sober/turning down social invitations/neurotic. I know I'm probably up a few pounds from where I was in January (although I refuse to check). And I'm okay with that. It's more important to me right now to find social and mental balance while still fitting in my jeans than to obsess about a number on a scale when I can't meal prep and I can barely exercise. Although, the fitting in my jeans part is still really important.

Anyway. Summary of the day: progress all around! Onward!

Saturday

AM @CSC

mobility and a little easy ROM work

+

40:00 Assault bike, off every 10 for 0:60 hollow rock 

+

400m sled drag, 70

+

20:00 assisted ROM on Assault bike

PM @Madisonville Pool

easy ROM work + vitamin D

0:60 is a long time to hollow rock.

Completely weaned out of the sling. Not sure how I feel about that... it feels too soon, even though Tim and Drew have both said that it's not.

Friday - 5 weeks post-op

AM @MobilityFit

2 sets:

Assisted ROM on Assault bike

Hinged flexion stretch 

Wall climbs with fingers 

Isometric RC holds, 6 ways 

Internal/external rotations 

3-way bicep curls 

Scap retraction on CS, purple 

Easy ROM on erg, feet on ground 

Foam rolling forearms forwards/backwards on table while sitting on a ball

Assisted ROM with PVC

+

800m sled drag, 45

PM @the pool

A little ROM work, but mostly just playing hooky and enjoying the sun

5 days in a row of PT is rough. Hurts like a bitch, but ROM is significantly improving day by day, so it was worth it. 

We tried a Farmer's hold with a 5lb dumbbell - total no go. Felt like the sutures were pulling on the subscap attachment in a bad way.

ROM in the pool was not pain-free today, didn't push it. 

Thursday

AM @MobilityFit

2 sets:

Assisted ROM on the assault bike 

Hinged flexion stretch 

Wall climbs with fingers 

Isometric RC holds, just 6 ways 

Internal/external rotation to neutral 

3-way bicep curl 

Scap retraction on crossover symmetry, purple 

Gentle ROM on the erg, feet on the ground 

400m sled drag, 45

PM @CSC

60:00 Assault bike, off every 10:00 for: 

lunge to the GHD

8 hip extensions 

8 glute-ham raises

lunge back to the bike

(just 5 sets)

PM2 @Oakley Pool 

10:00 assisted ROM

Today was a success! 

1) I did not cry at PT.  We cut the subscap internal rotation isometric holds and limited the ROM on the wall climbs, which have been the two most painful things. Plus, I took a lot of time between movements and Drew sent me out for a couple of "active recovery" sled drags to give my shoulder a break. Still significantly uncomfortable just at rest, but didn't surpass my tolerance level. 

2) I ate lunch with my right hand, without even thinking about it. 

3) My ROM underwater is fantastic. It's SO WEIRD. Against gravity, I can barely move my arm, in any direction (although it's better than it was on Monday). But underwater? I can get 80-90% in all directions (except internal/external rotation) completely pain-free. It hurts like hell when I get out, but Drew said he expected that. I still feel ridiculous standing in the middle of the pool just waving my arms around, but who gives a shit. It feels fantastic. 

Wednesday

AM @MobilityFit

10:00 assisted ROM on Assault bike

Dry needling, upper trap

5:00 assisted ROM on Assault bike

Wall climbs with fingers 

Hinged flexion stretch 

Isometric RC holds, 7 ways 

Internal/external rotation to neutral 

3-way bicep curl, unweighted 

4:00 on the erg, rocking back and forth and barely using arms, feet on the ground 

Wall climbs with fingers 

2:00 on the erg 

Surpassed pain threshold for today 

PM @CSC

1600m sled drag from waist, 45

+

30:00 with a lacrosse ball

I wonder how long it's going to be this bad. Drew just keeps giving me hugs and letting me go home when it's clear I'm on the verge of tears. I've spent a lot of time at MobilityFit and have yet to see anyone in this much pain, which makes me nervous that we haven't given it enough time to heal. Orrrrr... I'm just a giant wimp. 

Tuesday

AM1 @home

20:00 Airdyne 

AM2 @MobilityFit
2 sets:
15:00 Assault bike for assisted ROM (back and forth, not a complete revolution)
Flexion stretching, hinging at the hips against the rig
Wall climbs with fingers
Tabata isometric RC holds against rig, 7 ways
400m sled drag from waist, 45 on the sled

PM1 @CSC

60:00 Assault bike, off every 10:00 for 25 anchored sit-ups

PM2 @Oakley Pool

10:00 assisted ROM in the water, less zombie-like than yesterday 

PM3 @home

2x 15:00 Marc Pro

Did I mention that this is awful?

Drew wanted me to run through the circuit three times, but I had a really hard time with the added stuff, especially the isometric holds, and couldn't tolerate any more for today. Asking my severed and sutured subscap to fire is a whole new level of hell. 

Thursday

A1. Seated L-arm DB shoulder press, 3 x 4-5, 21X1; :60 rest
A2. Bent-over L-arm DB row, 3 x 4-5, 20X1; :60 rest
+
For time:
400m sled drag, body weight on sled
+
3 sets:
30/side light lying 1-leg banded curls
30/side light seated banded leg extensions

A1. 35, 40(4), 40(3)

A2. 65, 70(4), 70(4)

+

15:57 with 160, from waist 

+

skipped

Sled drag was so incredibly tough. I think I moved the weight slightly better than last time, but I took so many breaks that my total time was a full minute slower than before. It was freaking muggy, which didn't help.

Got to the gym super late and still had 89 things on my to-do list for tomorrow, so skipped the last piece. Sorry, not sorry. 

Peace out. 

Sunday

1600m sled drag from waist, 45

Saturday

A. Safety bar good morning, 15-12-9, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
Not for time:
800m sled drag, add load from last week
+
15:00 Assault Bike easy

A. +50, +70, +80

+

complete with 95, from waist 

+

complete 

WHY IS THAT SLED SO HEAVY. 

Saturday

A. Safety bar good morning, 15-15-15, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
Not for time:
800m light sled drag, add load from last week
+
10:00 Assault Bike easy

A. +30, +50, +50

+

complete with 90 on the sled, from waist

+

complete 


Damn, that sled felt heavy.

Saturday

AM

20:00 AirDyne

PM

A. Safety bar good morning, build to a heavy double
+
Not for time:
1200m light sled drag, same as last week
+
10:00 Assault Bike easy

A. +130, but felt shallow 

+

complete with 80 on the sled from waist 

+

complete


Legs are toast. 

Saturday

AM

20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

PM

A. Safety bar good morning, build to a heavy triple
B. 1-arm Farmer's walk, 3 x 40-60m/side moderate w/perfect posture/scap engagement; start w/R and match load/distance w/L; :30 between sides
+
Not for time:
800m light sled drag, 10 less than last week
+
10:00 Assault Bike easy

A. +130, but felt shallow 

B. 40, 45, 50 

+

complete with 80 on the sled, from waist 

+

complete 

Saturday

A. Safety bar good morning, 4 x 4-5, 31X1; 2:30 rest
B. 1-arm Farmer's walk, 3 x 60-80m/side light w/perfect posture/scap engagement; start w/R and match load/distance w/L; :30 between sides
+
Not for time:
400m light sled drag, add 10 from last week
+
10:00 Assault Bike easy

A. +90, +100, +110(4), +110(4)

B. 30 across, 3x down the rig and back (80m)

+

complete with 90, from waist (not light)

+

20:00 complete 

Good mornings are getting heavy...

Weight on the Farmer's walk was fine on my shoulder, fine on keeping perfect posture, but grip started to get blown up (on both sides). 

Sled felt SO HEAVY. Jeez.

Included in warm-up:

2 sets, 10 each:

kettlebell screwdrivers

external rotations, elbow on knee, unweighted 
standing snow angels

Saturday

Made up yesterday's squats:

A. Safety squat, 12 x 2 @ 50 on bar + chains, 10X1; begin a set every :60
+
A. Safety bar good morning, 4 x 5-8, 31X1; 2:30 rest
B. 1-arm Farmer's walk, 2 x 80-100m/side light w/perfect posture/scap engagement; start w/R and match load/distance w/L; :30 between sides
+
Not for time:
400m light sled drag, add 10 from last week
+
10:00 Assault Bike easy

A. complete

+

A. +70, +80, +90(5), +90(5)

B. 30, 40

+

complete with 80 on the sled, from waist

+

complete

Yikes. Shoulder is very sore. It feels like I've been kicked right in the joint, super deep and achy. It's distracting. I'm holding out hope that I've just been asking a lot of it this week, and that if I take it easy today and tomorrow, it will make a dramatic improvement. Fingers crossed.

Wanted to make up at least the squats from yesterday. Fast and easy. 

Depth felt a little shallow on the heavier good mornings.

Farmer's walk was fine. Really concentrated on perfect scaps. 

Sled felt way lighter than last week - because I took yesterday off?