After more than half a year of shoulder pain and after two surgeries I’ve started lifting weights again today.
Starting over is never easy and not always a great feeling, but this time it hurt me physically and also a little bit of my ego.
Day 1
After the surgeries to my left shoulder and not using my arm optimally , it was and is still very hard and painful to lift and do things with my arm. It was like I never used my arm and everything I tried to lift felt like a ton. Physiotherapy helped me a lot but now I have to get my strength back on my own, and I have to say lifting an empty bar hurt more than I thought it would.
Now I was never a serious lifter but I could bench a decent amount of weight (well at least I’d like to think so 😅). But bench pressing an empty bar while feeling my muscles ache with so much effort goes to show you how you can take things for granted. Yes it hurt my ego a bit, but I decided right then I will not let it get the best of me. The last thing I want to do is get another injury while recovering from one. So baby steps.
First day:
Bench : 20 kg
Squat : 20 kg
Rows: 20 kg
Day 2
Well two days after my first training day I was still sore. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because after all, it has been long time even if it is just an empty bar. I decided to rest an extra day just to be on the safe side.
My program said to add 2.5 kg to my squat and I finally got to use my incremental weights which I bought before my injury and arrived after. This part went well.
The second exercise was the one I was curious about: overhead press. Couldn’t lift the bar over my shoulders. I wasn’t disappointed though because I expected as much and it didn’t get me down. Instead of worrying I just went on to next exercise which was an old favorite of mine : the deadlift.
To be fair I also wanted to start an empty bar but I was lazy with setting it up to suit my needs. So my starting point was 40 kg which went smoother than I expected.
Yes it was only one set, but baby steps right ?
Squat: 22.5 kg
Overhead press: failed
Deadlift : 40 kg
Day 3
Now this went better then expected. The squat was now 25 kg which went easy enough. I was more worried about my bench , because the last time I finished it with some difficulty. But to my surprise I finished it with ease. I did use some leg drive which I didn’t do the first day, so this might have contributed to it. And my last exercise row also didn’t give me any problems.
So looking back the first week of training was a win for me.
Squat : 25 kg
Bench press: 22.5 kg
Row: 22.5 kg
Program and equipment
I wanted something to start with something easy and a program that wouldn’t take up much of a time. Also a program I was familiar with. So I went with StrongLifts 5×5. A great program for beginners and something to help me to get back on track.
The only equipment I need for this specific program is a squat rack, a bench, a bar and of course the weights.
The only thing left is to keep this up. And this one of the reasons I decided to blog about it. It motivates me to keep writing and with my training.
Now I’m not a personal motivator or anything but if this in any way would be helpful to any one, then I’m glad to be able to contribute to anything positive.
Till the next training post.
