I'm glad you're finding success in lifting again! Hopefully you got to keep some frequent flyer miles from all that flying and turn it into some beach time!
In all seriousness, though, it's very cool that the pain is going away.
Canadian Soldier here,
Been strength training on and off for the past 15 years with a bump in the road over the past two/half years.
Started lifting weights in high school as I was a rugby/hockey player but didn't have a clue what I was doing. Joined the Army and went hard in Calisthenics and then discovered powerlifting at the Battalion.
Maxed out in 2013 at:
415lbs squat
500lbs deadlift
270lbs bench press
At 27, I stopped lifting when I became an Aide-de-camp for a General (I'm an Occifer 😁 and had travel extensively (Canada is a big country and I did a lot of Int'l travel) developed chronic pain in my right hip after I stopped lifting probably from a combination of air and car travel (230,000 miles by air in two years) and past injuries (Infantry life and sports).
Spent two years seeing chiro, physio, trying every stupid gimmick there is. Predictably, none of it worked! Predictably, I became the most infit I've ever been in my life and thought my career was over.
A few months ago, I finally said screw it and got back under the barbell inspite of the pain.
Well, low and behold, my pain is going away and I'm rapidly regaining my strength.
Currently after only a few months:
245lbs squat
350lbs deadlift
205lbs bench
135lbs press
Have started working power cleans in again and am crushing weighted chinups now.
I'm a ways off where I used to be and I still have a bit of pain but it's 20x better than it was just six months ago.
Just want to say thanks to Mark Rippetoe and the other contributors on this site for the no BS approach to fitness and the healthy reminder that there are no shortcuts to health and wellness.
I'm glad you're finding success in lifting again! Hopefully you got to keep some frequent flyer miles from all that flying and turn it into some beach time!
In all seriousness, though, it's very cool that the pain is going away.
Thanks Kyle,
I enjoy lifting and it makes me feel good. Had a lot of frequent flyer miles and have used many of them
The pain issue was quite bad honestly, I've had a lot of injuries but have always bounced back but the soft tissue hip and back pain was probably the first time I just hadn't bounced back. It was exacerbated by my stupid Army Officer mentality of "I'll just push through it and deal with it later". It was dejecting as I had always prided myself on physical fitness and athletic ability which obviously helped me career wise.
As I said, tried all the usual pseudo-science BS of physio, chiro, IMS, etc. None of it worked and only provided temporary relief at best. Finally sucked it up and did the obvious thing and got back under the bar. Goal right now is to be back in the 1000lb club by the summer.