Post-Surgery Reflections
Surgery was just completed on my left arm and my thoughts are optimistic. I just found out that I will be needing surgery on my right arm as well. While this will not impact my training schedule much it is another setback and obstacle I have to overcome. First time injured and it left me with two torn biceps.
I have to tackle this like a champion, I have goals I want to accomplish and none of that can be done laying up crippled, depressed, and defeated.
Life always throws obstacles your way. How you react to those obstacles or situations says more about you then the situation itself. I like to face mine head up, take all it can throw at me and keep pushing forward. Nothing can be done by crying about the situation, it’s done, now you have to keep pushing forward and learn from it and continue your pursuits in the best way you possibly can.
Immediately following the news of my bicep tears I continued to train. I reacted to the situation in the only positive manner I know how, and that’s pushing forward. Learning from my situation, modifying my training, and continuing to do what I love.
https://youtu.be/PxlIMNjG1Eo
How you react to a situation says more about you then the situation itself. Remember that one line (taught to me by an old timer) and it will get you through some pretty rough and unforgiving situations. There is always something positive you can do or change, there is always an alternative output that can yield positive benefits instead of digging yourself deeper into a hole.
The day after my surgery I hit the gym, just trying to stay active and at the same time take it easy until Saturday when I start my squats again (a week post-surgery).
https://youtu.be/NUyIUiWp_4c
All of this is just a small hurtle, soon I will have another surgery, another week off, and more recovery time. I may even reach a point where I have to squat with no arms… that’ll be a sight.
I am going to conquer this situation and come out stronger. I will lose some weight, probably drop back down to the 198lbs class (don’t hold me to that), my legs will grow, my bench will decline, and my arms shall shrink. But I will come back from this stronger, smarter, and improved… and all of you I HOPE will have learned a lesson or two from my ordeal.
Whenever faced with these situations take a look at the big picture, is 8-12 weeks of downtime really going to destroy what you spent years building? No. If you love what you do is 12 weeks of injury going to change your passion? No. The big picture is what’s important, and instead ask yourself “How can I benefit from this predicament?”
Training Changes
Personally I know I can really use this time to work on my Squats and lower back strength. This will be a time for me to really focus on developing that weakness and correct a huge imbalance that has held me back in competitions. Time for some focused development. Sure my bench will suffer some, but 500lbs is not out of the question for the end of the year. This is only a 12 week break. My bench will decline but with muscle memory and hard training it will come back and maybe in retraining my upper body I will be able to uncover weaknesses that were previously holding me back.
Furthermore my legs and entire posterior chain will be much stronger which will add to my competition total. I will be training Smolov style with a few extra accessory movements and my two week breaks will instead contain some fun movements for my deload period to prevent accommodation.
Diet Changes & Supplement Changes
During this period my diet will change very little. Being that I will be training my lower body very intensely I need to keep my calories up to support my training output, recovery, and growth.
Around my training window I take
2 scoops of Muscle Research Essential Blend with 1 Scoop of Karbolic. This gives me my protein and carb needs preworkout.
During and Post workout I take another 2 Scoops of Muscle Research Essential Blend with 2 scoops of Karbolic. I prefer to get the Chocolate of both and mix them together.
This is the staple of my training workout window, very heavy on the carbs which is needed when doing high volume squats.
Immediately upon waking I take my Forma-Stanzol which boosts IGF and keeps my estrogen down. This product is extremely important for those two purposes alone. This product is excellent stand alone as well as when on cycle.
Final thoughts
Face your obstacles, develop a plan and execute your actions in as methodological manner as possible. This will keep you focused from distractions and keep you with the rewarding feeling of accomplishments. For example, my Smolov squat program has expectations of squatting a certain weight for a predetermined amount of reps and every time I do this I feel accomplished. I know I kicked ass and I can reward myself. These little victories are necessary when pushing forward toward a goal.
Find your end point, develop a roadmap and execute… The sooner you can do this the better, the longer you put off your mission the harder it becomes to get started and get out of the emotional and physical rut.
Best Of Luck!
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