My return from left shoulder surgery

Shoulder surgery on 5/7/2018
Repaired partial complete tear of supraspinatus tendon, decompress subacromial bursa, and repair "frayed" biceps tendon. Recovery went really well! I started back in the gym maybe at month 3, just doing super light cables and such. Sometime in month 4 I started lifting-lifting, although I was still really weak.

For bench, I started back on Sunday, September 16, 2018. I did the following:
2x5@45
5x5@65, 85, 105, 125, 145
3@165
3x3@185 (5 on last set)

The next bench workout, I did 3x5@185. From then, I benched once or twice a week, adding 10 lbs a workout (5 after the 225 workout), until I did 3x5@230 (5,5,4) two workouts in a row the week of October 7.

I also did a lot of cables - row variations, etc. and whatever weird crap Marissa came up with. Split squats with the front foot elevated (sand/steelbell), reverse hypers, and trap bar farmer's walks at home and leg press at Sequoia started getting my lower body back. I still can't back squat because the bar on my shoulders suuuuucks. I did other miscellaneous stuff as I felt I could. I started DLing a couple weeks ago with 3x3@315,315,335. OHP still sucks, so I'm doing KB presses every day for a month.

Back to bench, Christine suggested I reduce reps rather than just keep trying for that 15th rep with 230. This past Monday (Oct 15),  I went to 3x3@235, 245, 255 and Thursday (Oct 18) I did the following:

Bench 3x3@255,265,275(2)
Pull-ups (NG) 1x2, started pulsing, and my neck dealie told me to GFM - my whole arm started burning! I figured discretion is the better part of valor, so I called it there.
Did 3x20@135 trap bar rows on Friday. I don't think I did anything on Sat (other than the KB presses)



Xtine started back up too about two weeks ago. Loving leg press, and Thursday she:
Squatted 3x5@135,145,155(last two were high)
DL 185x3, something, something, 225x1!
Haven't lost that much!

Sam - Week of 3/18

I figure I can DL ok with the tendon issue. As long as the cervical stenosis doesn't complain, I'll try to start getting more serious. Plus, Emily tells me Mike just missed 495, so I don't want that gap to increase between us...). I'll start with rack pulls because... well... I made some pulling blocks and wanna try them. That's actually the whole rationale for Sunday.

Sunday
Rack pulls - two inches below knee?  3@315, 1@395, 1@485
I'm surprised how easily 485 went considering no straps. I attribute it to volume on SLDL as my grip usually goes out on those first. Hopefully, this will keep up.

Monday
Plate-loaded incline press          10x10 7 sets 45&25, 3 sets 45&10
Push-down leg raises                 3x20

45 min elliptical

I fucking hate cardio, but find I can do it with TV. I did a bunch last week and found I was looking forward to it as I could catch up on my stories. I did "Colony" on Netflix but finished that. I did an ep of "Altered Carbon" on Netflix but Christine suggested I do "A Handmaid's Tale" on Hulu as I've already seen "Altered Carbon." (if you haven't, you should. Best cyberpunk on film, and I'm a big fan of the genre).

Mike- 5 weeks out

For whatever reason the past two weeks just flew by with note much notable other than a couple failed reps on squats and deadlifts after getting a little to far ahead of myself...
Monday

Squat
Top set 435x3 in wraps
deadlifts last successful single was 445x1, then felt really good and of course, let my ego get the best of me. will be rep work for the next couple workouts
315 3x5

Tuesday
Bench
275,280, 285, 290x1
bench from pins(just barely above t shirt
2x5 @ 235
Really bad elbow tendinitis today(mucho capsicum cream on the elbows/forearms to get through)
dumbell rows
105x10, 115x8, 125x8
db shoulder press
55lbsx10, 65lbsx10
lat pulldowns pasued at bottom
2x12
bicep curls

Thursday

Squats

335 3x5, 365x5 wraps

Deadlifts 

335 3x5

Friday- The forearm pain is real this week..... Had elbow sleeves on, rolled just to cover forearms and not the elbow joint

Bench

245x3, 255x3, 265x4 (pr)

spoto press 

225 2x5

Sam - week of 3/4 and 3/11

Friday 3/9
Plate loaded incline        10x10@plate and 25  8 on 9th set, 6 on 10th
                       better than last week! I should probably stop this considering i have a freaking tear in my left proximal biceps tendon! I see the sawbones on 3/23

Saturday 3/10
Squat                             10x10@205

Sunday 3/11 (wooo! 311 day!)
OHP                               10x10@105 (ow - stupid shoulders and neck)
BB Row                         10x10@125

Monday 3/12
SLDL                          10x10@205 (got 7 sets, then lower back started spasming so I called it. Good news though - it wasn't the grip!)

Then Xtine went to the hospital (great excuse to skip cardio!)

Thursday 3/14
Plate loaded incline      10x10@plate and quarter  (got 8 full sets, then dropped to plate for last two)
Push-down leg raises    3x20 (owwww!)

Friday 3/15
Leg press (rack was taken)   10x10 plates/side: 4,3,3,3,3,4,4,5,5,5
Woodchoppers                      2x10@something

Sam - Last week and week of 3/4

Had a vasectomy, so have to take it slow.
Ron convinced me to do 10x10 for a month. It is kinda awesome and kinda sucky!
Trying to keep 3 min intervals. More like 5-7 on some of these as the sets go up.

Thursday
Plate loaded incline chest press 10x10 6 sets @plate & 25, one at plate & 10, one at plate, then last two sets were just pushups

Friday
Squat          10x10@185

Saturday   
BNP           10x10@95
Row           10x10@115

Sunday
Deficit SLDL from block   10x10@185

Monday
DB Curl     10x10@25       

Mike- 7 weeks out

So had some stuff come up and missed recording stuff for 3 weeks basically weeks. Lost track of everything so the Gist of it is
 squat 475x1 w/ wraps
Deadlift- broke 475 off the ground twice(once barely, second time to knees but couldn't keep lower back from rounding so dropped it(not literally)deadlifting heavy infuriates me...
Bench- 270,275,280,285 all x1

Sam - Week of Feb 11

Saturday (the 10th)
Squat 1x5@335
Steelbell clean & squat, clubbell stuff

Was alone, so I'm not sure - first two reps were likely borderline, last three were definitely good. I am really liking the narrow stance - I feel way stronger and more stable in the hole. I think it's an issue in my "normal stance" with the bar moving behind mid-foot. With the narrow stance, I feel like everything is chained up rock solid under the bar. Also, it isn't painful for my outer quads. That's weird as this squat uses a lot of quad. We'll have to see how this goes.

I left off bench as I wanna see what the shoulder MRI says. I can bench, it just feels like the left biceps tendon is about to tear during Every. Single. Rep. That shit hurts! The right one is off and on too - to the point both of them are affecting by ability to get the bar in position for squat. I'll stick with... ugh.... machine chest presses for now as I don't want to turn into a chicken-chested weenie.

Sunday
Reverse Hyper    3x10@240
Above knee rack pulls w/ straps 10@315,10@385, 10@435, 3@485
Double overhand holds                315 for a moment, then 3x10sec@275

Went above the knee as I just wanted to load the upper body a bit and I didn't want to screw up volume squat day on Monday. As I'm writing this (Monday 11am), my low back is a little tight, but more in that "I'm strong!" way, rather than anything negative. :)


Monday
Squat 5x5@295

Hahaha, Matthew and I finished squat and were all "Fuck it, we're done." I literally had a stitch in my side like a fat guy chasing kids that tipped over his garbage cans.
That said, I'm going to 315 for next volume day. Maybe a little more rest in between, I feel pressured by Matthew and/or Emily to hurry up. (Sadly, Emily was absent for this wo due to illness).



Wednesday
DL 1x5@395(4)
Machine chest press 8@150, 5@170, 5@190, 5@210, 8@130
Machine flyes           2x10@something
DB curl                     Ran the rack 40, 35, 30, 25 with sets of 5
Just negative leg ext 2x10 150, 130
Calf raise                  2x10  Slow negative

Stupid tiny, weak hands can't hold onto a barbell for anything! 4th rep on DL started sliding. I got the rep, but that was that.
Machine chest press makes me feel like an old lady, but at least it doesn't hurt ye olde biceps tendon
Introduced MAS and ESP to just negatives today! I had planned on doing leg ext and leg curl but after leg ext was all "Nope, nope, nope-ty-nope-nope."
I think they'll eventually become institutionalized to their awfulness and like them.


Friday
Squat                     1x5@345
OHP                       1x5@175(2)
Negative leg curl   3x10@130, 150, 170

First two were shallow on squat, last three were ok.
Left biceps tendon hurt too bad on OHP.
Surprisingly little soreness after Weds or Fri negatives. WTF? I remember these crippling us.