Martin roy training log

**Martin Roy** · 4th January 14, 07:29 PM

Last night at the gym I did an inventory of the shoulder movements that I can do without pain and those that caused a problem. I'm frustrated that the resting month, December, resulted in more rather than less discomfort. Thus, I'm returning to light weights and rom-focused exercises. The bottom line is that I can perform most movements except cross body moves. But there is a general stiffness on most movements, especially overhead press. I can do traps, bench rows, and rhomboid stuff without any problem. I think that some of the stiffness is from the lack of use over the past month; that will be remedied over the next several days. The discomfort is sufficiently acute that throwing is problematic. Stones are out for now; wfd is okay; hammer feels okay during the winds but feels worse afterwards. Caber and wob aren't a problem.

Yesterday I got an appointment for next Thursday with the best ortho doc in town and if there is a cancellation I'll see him sooner.
My amateur diagnosis is that it isn't a tear in either the muscle or the labrum because I'm not experiencing a loss of strength. I believe there is an impingement caused by calcium deposits near the point where the front deltoid attaches to the bone near the right side of my neck. I'll find out next week how accurate my self-diagnosis turns out to be. Whatever it is I want it fixed. Now.

This morning I went to the gym for the first good pull session since before Christmas. Worked up to a couple of sets at 275, along with more rom shoulder work, traps, bench row, hammer curls, abs, bike and elliptical. When I got home I jumped in the hot tub, followed by rolling the delt with a lacrosse ball against the wall, and ice.

**Alan H** · 6th January 14, 12:09 PM

How did it feel?

I guess we'll know more on Thursday, eh?

BTW, tell the G Man that Dustin has signed up for the powerlifting gig next Saturday.

**Martin Roy** · 10th January 14, 01:01 PM

Yesterday I learned more than I ever wanted to know about a shoulder condition called a hooked acromion. It is the small bone at end of the shoulder under which the rotator cuff muscles contract to move the arm up and around. The acromion is supposed to be flat. However, some people come equipped with an acromion which hooks downward, thereby inhibiting and ultimately damaging the rotator cuff. As we age, damage is increasingly probable if one engages in sports involving throwing or overhead lifting. That's me; hence my recent shoulder pain.

I could rest it until the current pain goes away and then not do anything that would aggravate it, ever. Or, I can get my shoulder scoped to shave off the hooked part of the acromion, resume training in about six weeks with full recovery expected within six months.

Given that I'm nowhere close to considering the possibility of retirement, you can guess which option I've chosen. A few minutes ago I sent my doctor a note instructing him to schedule the procedure, ideally during the first week of February. It's done as an out patient matter and takes about an hour. If muscle damage is found that requires repair it's an hour and a half. And, if there is muscle damage recovery time is longer, up to a year.

Thus, it appears I have a bit of a detour in the road ahead. But I'm glad to finally know what the problem is. Having a target is always better than guessing about shots in the dark. I will still be able to do squats, deads, core, cardio, traps, and any movement that keeps the elbows below my chest. In addition there will be assigned rehab; I don't plan for this to be down time.

Furthermore, there won't be anything to distract me from M&M footwork drills.

If anyone has any firsthand experience with this type of shoulder rehab and recovery, I'd love to hear from you.

**RogerWS76** · 13th January 14, 02:33 PM

Way to attack it Marty. I will be praying for a great outcome!

**Alan H** · 13th January 14, 04:23 PM

I forsee zercher squats in your future.

**Martin Roy** · 14th January 14, 12:26 PM

Surgery set for Friday afternoon, February 7th. Sooner it's done, the better. I'm going to the gym tonight to get an idea of what I can do. For some odd reason, my shoulder has been hurting more ever since I saw the doctor. But I really don't like sitting around doing nothing.

**Martin Roy** · 20th January 14, 02:58 PM

I stayed away from the gym for a short period because I didn't want to do anything inadvertently that would make my shoulder worse going into surgery. However, there comes a point where you just gotta do something. Thus, yesterday about the time the Niners game started I hit the gym for 20+ minutes on the bike followed by a series of rack pulls with 185 and 235. I'm not sure how many I did, but I did enough to feel like I was getting some work done. This morning I was surprised to find that my shoulder felt better than it has in some time.

Last night I was complaining to my wife that I don't like it when I can't train and I can't throw.

**Alan H** · 21st January 14, 01:21 PM

You can lift and you absolutely can do the footwork drills that we're doing. A month of those footwork drills and you'll be shocked at the difference in balance and smoothness...seriously.

An example workout - I'm sure you can think of other variations. None of these things would hurt your shoulders but you could do variations on this stuff for 6 weeks and it would be great!.

Stationary bicycle active warmup

zercher squats ... 4 x 6 x whatever, probably about 165 to start ... alternate these with your rack pulls, every other workout.

Sit Ups or crunches.. start flat, progress to incline board, or whatever .. alternate weeks with Captains chair leg lifts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghwdoXHeiIk)

Jump Squats - "regular" ones. Alternate weeks with Side-to-side jump squats (see this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gw6hWu6oZA) I do these with a 12 pound med ball in my hands

Russian twists with med ball or small plate, on the incline situp board.

Back Extensions ... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph3pddpKzzw) I started doing these with a 10 pound plate pressed to my chest. Then I moved up to 25 and 45 pound plates. Now I'm doing them with a 70 pound dumbell, but I'd start with 10 or 25 at most.

Dumbell Split squats .... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiTzgL2wPn8) ... I really should do more of these!

And of course, stuff at the High School football field. Go down to the football field and run stair steps. Then jump stair steps. Do 100 winds with a jumprope. Get a sled, or even a tire and do sprints and pulls with the sled/tire. A regular car tire...swipe one from the gas station...with a plywood insert. Then get a big eye bolt and a BIG washer to back it up. Now get a 30 foot long piece of rope. tie rope to eye bolt and pull like crazy. Not hard enough? Go down to Orchard Supply or Home Depot and get a 50 pound bag of sand. Put it inside 3-4 of those poly-material sandbags that Home Depot sells and duct tape the snot out of it. Throw it in the tire. Now drag THAT.

Lots of stuff you can do and stay fit...probably get faster, and not tweak your shoulder.

**Alan H** · 21st January 14, 01:26 PM

BTW, I was intending to transition to 2 days a week in the gym and two days a week pulling sleds, loading stones and flipping tires for most of February until our tires got stolen. Also, Mike M. sent me a Stanford track and field offseason workout that also makes sense, so I've been doing that.

Still, the tire flip/tire sled drag both forwards and backwards/stone load/stone carry (100 pound stone to carry, 200 to load) plan still seems like an awfully good one, to me.

**Martin Roy** · 22nd January 14, 01:43 PM

Thanks for the tips, Alan. As it happens I've been thinking along the same lines; this pre-surgery period is not going to be spent on the couch. I've been doing several of the moves you mentioned for sometime - back extensions, especially after pulls or squats with a plate or as an angled plank hold; captain's chair is part of my regular ab work; the twists I've been doing as a cable pull instead of the Russian variety. I may very well add Zerchers back into the routine, but I think my shoulder has loosened up enough to have a regular grip on the bar for back squats. I'll check out the db splits and the jumps.

Last night back to the gym. Warm up on the bike, a few sets of traps, followed by a lot of work with cable pulls - many sets of fast core twists, along with arm work, moderate weight, keeping my elbows no higher than chest level. I did a lot of experimenting with different moves and angles to get a better idea of what works and what doesn't. Finished with more bike.

A horde of New Year's Resolutionists had taken over the weight room. A few of them may become consistent regulars, but most will be gone by the end of February.