Temporary replacement for DL, PC & Chin-up?

[sciomako]

Hi,

I hurt* my oblique muscle (sore when pressed just right below the ribcage on the right side of the torso). By trying to lift some light weights, I figured I couldn't do DL, PC and chin-up until it heals. I guess it can easily take a few weeks.

I continue to do my squat, bench and press in SS. What else should i do in place of DL, PC & chin-up in the meantime? Currently I'm trying machine row.

Thanks.

p.s. *I suspect I strained it while DL. It appears the oblique is engaged to keep the weight close to the body.

[Tom Campitelli]

You can probably do all of those lifts without great problem using the appropriate loads. There are no substitutions for those movements. If you wait weeks after every tweak to train, you will miss a lot of training time. The body heals through movement. Look up the Starr Rehab on Google.

[sciomako]

Thanks Tom.

I've just read up on Starr Rehab protocol. I am glad you pointed me to the right direction before I did something suboptimal.

A quick question: the info I found recommends no other heavy work in the rehab period which consists of 10+ consecutive days so the rehab gets all the attention it needs. Is this necessary? Does it mean I have to stop all other lifts?

[Tom Campitelli]

No. I would keep doing the other lifts. Just find a weight at which you can train given your injury and do that. Add weight as you can, letting pain be your guide. My guess is that you will recover pretty quickly.

[Bryan Bulmann]

Thanks Tom.

I've just read up on Starr Rehab protocol. I am glad you pointed me to the right direction before I did something suboptimal.

A quick question: the info I found recommends no other heavy work in the rehab period which consists of 10+ consecutive days so the rehab gets all the attention it needs. Is this necessary? Does it mean I have to stop all other lifts?

Hey sciomako,

Just speaking anecdotally, but I went through this same situation earlier this year in May when I pulled my groin muscle. I, too, was concerned about not doing the other lifts in the program and didn't want to get behind in my progression. I asked the same question you did on Andy Baker's programming forum and he answered the same as Tom, basically; you can keep on lifting....but don't be stupid about it.

I began both the rehab and my normal routine concurrently. It didn't take long to figure out why you should just focus on the rehab and ONLY the rehab.....doing your routine AND rehab DRAINS you! Not at first, mind you. But very quickly, your rehab weight @ 25reps and your other lifts deplete your body's ability to recover. Within a few days, I abandoned my routine and just concentrated on the Starr program. Mind you, I'm about 30lbs overweight and just over 50 yrs old, so your mileage may vary. But I recovered well using the protocol and once healed, it didn't take me very long to get back up to speed in my normal program. Just my $0.02, sir. (Recovery will also depend upon how much you're lifting in the other exercises; how many sets, etc)

[Tom Campitelli]

The Starr protocol is for muscle belly tears, usually profound ones that bruise up significantly, such as hamstring, quad, and pec tears. It has applications in other places. I would not lift every day. I would just train as normally as possible.

[sciomako]

Thanks Tom and Bryan.

In today's session, I've just tried doing some light weight lat pull and deadlift after my heavy lifts. Looks like it worked! The pain didn't get worse. I think it actually felt a bit right after the sets. High rep was exhausting though.