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Geoff's Injury and Surgery Recovery Log
Heya. I've been in this game a couple years now; my most recent log is:
Geoff's Late Intermediate Log v1.0
First page of that has links that would take you through my entire training history if you were massively bored one afternoon, or if you just hate your own guts so much that you want to read it all.
All units English.
Short version:
Current age 43
Height 71 inches
Bodyweight: 211 (Began LP at 193; have been as high as 232 depending on various factors)
Life and profession: Married father of three, US Soldier in various capacities since 1998, starting out as in infantry private. Currently serving on active duty as a battalion chaplain.
Lifting history: 2008-2018, goofing off with weights. Started one day in Iraq, and haven't quit yet. During this 10-year goof-off period, my bodyweight went from 155-ish to 193. Despite the stupidity of my "training," I managed to get my lifts up to (approximately; my memory might be more accurate in earlier logs)
Squat: 350x1/285x5, Bench: 275x1/245x5, Press: 190x1/155x5, Deadlift: 405x1/365x5.
LP phase (mid 2018): Improved to
Squat: 370x1/355x5, Bench: 315x1/280x5, Press: 210x1/175x5, Deadlift: 435x1/410x5.
Intermediate phase (mid 2018 until March 2020): Improved to
Squat: 455x1/405x5, Bench: 365x5/327.5x5, Press: 240x1/207.5x5, Deadlift: 500x1/460x5
And then everything went to hell. COVID shutdowns, minor injuries, you name it, and all throughout, some chronic pain in my right elbow I couldn't get rid of. Once I got back on active duty, I had the elbow looked at because I was fed up, and an MRI showed a good sized bone spur that was curved such that, at extension, it was poking into and positively crapstomping my triceps tendon back there. So ... I went in 4 weeks ago today to have the bone spur shaved off, the calcified portion of the tendon excised, and the remaining tendon stapled (or something) to the remaining bone.
I am still on doctor's orders not to do certain things, at all. So I am not doing those certain things, at all.
My goal, though, is to hit full recovery, ability to perform all four basic lifts, and Lord willing, to be stronger after recovery and re-LP/re-intermediate than I was ever before.
That's the spiel. First workout (today) in a followup post.
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New Arm, New Me: Week 1 Day 1
Deadlift: 135x5x4, 225x2
I have a coach. He prescribed 135x5x2 to feel things out today, but I peeked ahead and he wanted me to see if 225 was in my wheelhouse later this week. I was too impatient to wait until Thursday to find out. Result: Yes, 225 is doable, and 135 feels great.
Leg Press: 240x5
Whatever 240 actually is on the sissy stick-a-pin-between-marked-plates nonsense I'm lifting on right now, that's what I lifted. Rx today was to hit a "moderately heavy set of 5." Last week, a friend I am coaching squatted a PR set of 5 at 355. I unracked his squat just to feel it on my shoulders, and learned two things: a) Yes, that puts pressure I don't want on my elbow. b) I probably couldn't squat 355 with a gun to my head right now. So I'm trying to manage my expectations. But a "2" of any kind on the front of my leg press/squat/whatever loading feels like a punch in the babymaker.
Leg Curlz: 60x10, 75x10x2
Rx was "3x10 @RPE 8," with the only goal being to get a smooth and easy "pump" with this exercise. Success. Kept it light because I haven't touched a leg-curlz machine with my body since 2017 or so, and didn't like the future I saw where I, a grown man, might have to explain to my boss, another grown man, that a leg curlz machine made me limp. Mission accomplished on all fronts.
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i get the frustration brother, believe me, but remember you're 43, not 23, so take it slow
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Good to see you back!
That leg press will shoot right up. Deadlift too.
I get the leg curls. They are strangely brutal.
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Thanks gents. I'm looking forward to some lifting of any kind, though I mostly want to do the "real" stuff.
NANM, W1D2
Leg Press: 240x5x3
As Rx: Tuesday's weight, 3 sets.
Deadlift: 225x10, 315x1
Rx was 225x5; I pushed myself a bit. 315 wasn't hard.
Leg curl: 75x10x3
Sets across this time.
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NANM, W2D1
Press: 15x20, 25x20, 35x20, 45x20
Technically shouldn't be pressing for at least another week. :/ But I'm tired of sitting around. Used the T15 bar and went to town; these felt great.
Bench: 45x15, 95x10
These felt less great. 95 was just slightly heavy. Probably will do 95 again next time.
Barbell Curl: 45x8x3
More challenging than expected, but a layoff will do that I suppose.
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NANM, W2D2
Leg Press: 260x5x3
Deadlift: 340x1, 225x5x3
RX was 225x5x2. Wanted another set. As for the single at the beginning, a friend of mine had 340 loaded on a bar when I walked in, and since 340 is a max score on the Army test, I walked up and pulled it cold just to make sure I still could. Felt fahne.
Leg Curl: 90x10x3
Dropped the pin to the next higher weight.
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NANM, W2D3
Bench: 95x20, 115x5
Felt alright. 115 felt like a slight push of the envelope, so I stopped at 5 reps.
Press: 25x20, 35x20, 45x20x2
Plan to progress this until I'm doing 45x20x4, by removing 25 next time, and 35 the time after that.
Forgot to do curls. :/
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NANM, W2D4
Squat: Worked up to 225x5
Felt fine. Leg press is dumb. I'm ready to squat. Hope to do 225 across next week, and move slow and steady from there.
Deadlift: 275x3x3, 375x1
The prescribed triples felt great, and the single at Seth's working weight felt good too.
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Oh, and I went for a run.
Did 2 miles in 19:16. Not even in the same postal code as "fast," but it's good enough to meet the minimum requirement for my specialty. That I did this "cold" without running a single step for 5+ weeks gives me confidence I can train it well when my ACFT period gets closer.
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