High hang power snatch
5 – 3 – 2 – 2 – 1 – 1 – 1
As many rounds as possible in 7 minutes:
12 Dumbell snatch, alternating arms
9 V-up
Post loads and rounds to BTWB
Injuries suck. What sucks more is needing surgery to repair an injury. It sucks because of the discomfort, the inconvenience in your daily routine, and let’s be honest, no surgery is cheap. When I found out I needed surgery to repair my torn rotator cuff in September of 2012 all these thoughts went through my head, plus one. The thought that I may never be as strong as I once was. I feared surgery on my shoulder would forever leave it a weaker, less capable part of my body. I had surgery on October 30th, 2012. I am here to tell you that I am stronger now then I EVER was before surgery and am now capable of more then I thought possible. This post is not meant to drive you under the knife the minute something hurts. This post is meant to give those without a choice a glimmer of hope at the end of that surgical tunnel.
I will start with this was the first surgery I have ever needed to repair an injury, and I have made it my goal to not repeat it. From the beginning I vowed to keep my body as healthy and prepared to heal as possible. I vowed to listen to my doctors and do EXACTLY as I was told, no more no less. And I absolutely took my rehab as seriously as I could while always listening to my body and not my ego. The first question I get is what happened, what did I do? I don’t have a specific answer. I have had shoulder issues for years stemming from year round swimming for a decade. Add to that poor posture, poor body awareness and the inability to put my body in the right position, and not stopping when my body told me through large amounts of pain to stop. All in all I am surprised I lasted as long as I did. In May of 2012 I pushed my shoulder to a point that I could not recover from and I knew it because pulling up my pants was now a one handed job. Getting dressed in general was a painful and slow process. The biggest indicator for me was that I could no longer sleep, there was absolutely no position of comfort I could get in that would allow me to rest for more then an hour before the pain woke me back up. I dealt with this for a while as I spoke with doctors, got MRIs, and figured out my sick leave from work. The surgery to repair a complete tear of the supraspinatus tendon in my left rotator cuff was eventually scheduled. By that time I had without doubt been painfully uncomfortable for 6 mos. I worked out everyday but I was limited in the things I could do. As soon as my surgery was scheduled I went into clean house mode, house being my body. I cut out the ridiculous energy drinks I was throwing back, I got very strict with my paleo, I was not so concerned about zoning, and I prepped my body for recovery.
For 8 hours after my surgery was over I was in pain, and that was it. I have not had any pain in my shoulder since that day. The night of my surgery was the first good, full night’s sleep I’d had in months. I knew then I was on the right path. Rehab started the next day, they told me all the things I could and could not do, I asked lots of questions and left with a clear picture of my limitations. I started working out in the gym 4 days after surgery and worked completely within those limitations. Every day I went to rehab I told them what I was doing without objection. As weeks went on they let me know what things I could add into my workout routine. I was able to jump rope at 2 ½ mos, at 3 mos I could run short distances, and it wasn’t until 4 mos that I was able to put a barbell only on my back. Until those landmarks occurred I improvised, I belt squatted, I “ran” with a weighted sled around the block (the sled being pulled from around my waist), I did weighted step ups with the dumbbell in my right hand, I did one armed ring rows, I farmer carried . . . . the only thing I felt limited by was my imagination. Intensity is relative to your abilities. As I said before I did as I was told and I got stronger.
I was cleared at 6 mos, April 29th of this year, to do as I like with the understanding my limiting factor would now simply be strength. I started light with weights, I used bands for bodyweight movements, I cut reps, I cut rounds, I modified EVERYTHING, and I wrote all of it down. And as time passed I added weight, I got rid of the bands, I added reps, and rounds. I had the perfect log to see what I had done and see where I wasn’t quite ready to go. I listened to my body and not my ego. Everyday was a PR. I also continued, and do to this day, to work through the rehab movements I was given after surgery. I am now 10 mos post surgery and I would like to share with you some numbers. Some of these numbers aren’t just about strength, before surgery I did not have the mobility to squat snatch. Working on mobility is a big part of rehab, I now have more range of motion then I did before.
Squat snatch:
Pre- 65#, post- 100#
Clean & jerk:
Pre- 125#, post 130#
Shoulder press:
Pre- 100#, post- 97.5#
OHS:
Pre- 115#, post- 120#
“Nasty Girls”:
Pre- 11:26, post- 9:54
1K row:
Pre- 4:11, post- 4:07
I have ZERO doubt in my mind that I am stronger now then I was before my shoulder surgery. I have even less doubt that whatever it is that I have not yet PRed in, I will soon enough. When my shoulders feel tired, I stop. When my form gives at heavy weight, I lighten it up. I will continue to put my health over my ego because the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is pain is not something to be ignored or pushed through.
Surgery sucks. Rehab takes a lot of personal work and patience, the road to recovery can be long. My body and my health are worth it and I’m on this journey for the long haul. Before my surgery I told my doctor I had this idea that afterwards my shoulder would be like this bionic shoulder and I would be able to rip car doors off their hinges. He laughed but I haven’t ruled it out yet.
Free intro class this Saturday at 8am. Tell your friends or anyone you know who is interested in this crazy thing called CrossFit to come give it a try.
New foundations class starts Monday August 26th at 7pm and runs Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights for the next 2 weeks.
