surgery recovery

[bricky]

I am a commercial bricklayer who just had his 2nd surgery for a herniated disk.After my first surgery 16 months ago i went back after little physical therapy and was able to lay 150 60 pound rockface block per day with little wimpering.i had my last surgery in Dec. and was told by my doctors that i should look into changing professions or do some hardcore leg and core strengthening. ilove what i do and i want to continue. what should a rookie like myself do to speed this recovery up and prevent any further injuries in that area.I am 34 years old 6 foot 202 pounds.any info would be greatly appreciated THANKS BRICKY

[Overload]

That's a tough recovery. i'd look into advanced physical therapy through a specialist, this is really an issue that needs to be supervised by a PT or doctor. the back and core will need to slowly be strengthened to make the body support moving heavier weights over time. i'd seek professional assistance with this personally. perhaps google around for some advanced PT routines.

i had an ACL reconstruction this past April and i did 16 weeks of supervised PT. once my PT was up i just tried to improve the PT routine and do it faster and with more weight on my own at the gym. i also googled advanced PT routines for sports players and i did some of those PT routines. i recovered very quickly and my surgeon was impressed with how fast i fully recovered.

the back is so delicate i'd look into a specialist or talk to your surgeon.

just my .02

[Luv2Hurt]

What I don't understand is how you could love the job?  Change careers now IMO.

[busyB]

Dude, why torture yourself over a job that could potentially mess you up permantly? Does not make sense. You are like a pro-athlete and want to play until you are 50. 

Can't you look for a Foreman gig then, where you dont have to do any labor?

[wes mantooth]

What I don't understand is how you could love the job?  Change careers now IMO.

whats wrong with blue collar work dude? we need more people like this...not less. that is an underlying problem in this country. the same people that laugh, ridicule, and turn their nose up to labor work are the first ones that bitch and moan about illegal immigration. not saying that im describing you per se....i dont know what your opinion is..

my point being that this country needs more prideful, loyal employees in every profession.

[Emmortal]

Dude, why torture yourself over a job that could potentially mess you up permantly? Does not make sense. You are like a pro-athlete and want to play until you are 50. 

Says the bodybuilder

I agree with Luv, I give this guy big props for doing the dirty work that helps build this country.  People are raising their kids to avoid hard work and are raising a bunch of fucking pansy assed pussies.

First off Bricky, we need some background on you.  Are you interested in starting a lifting regime?  What are your goals besides core strength?  I know your diet is probably not that great, but can you give us a run down on generally what you eat?

I think you can probably continue doing what you are doing, but as the doctors advised, you are getting older, that kind of work is rough on the body, so you should definitely start at least working out and getting some exercise outside of your work and focus on strengthening the rest of your body to take some of the pressure off of your back.

[Luv2Hurt]

whats wrong with blue collar work dude? we need more people like this...not less. that is an underlying problem in this country. the same people that laugh, ridicule, and turn their nose up to labor work are the first ones that bitch and moan about illegal immigration. not saying that im describing you per se....i dont know what your opinion is..

my point being that this country needs more prideful, loyal employees in every profession.

See you got me wrong bro, I'm speaking from experience.  I was a union carpenter for 15 years so I know all about construction work and busting my ass.  But its a young mans game and hard, sometimes life threating work. Full of all kinds of airborne hazards also not to mention the seasonal work, most older, damn even younger construction workers are misserable for all sorts of reasons I could go into. I got out of the labor side and now am in the management end of it so I still see it everyday, unfortunately.  I do construction worker safety now and observe workplaces and I can tell you yes its a job that needs to be done but thank God not by me anymore.  That shit will put you in an early grave.

Im glad in ways I did it cause it taught me to be tough and be able to hang in there and not give up.  When your standing up on a wall 35feet in the air with nothing around you but the ground below in 10 F weather with blowing wind and snow and a -20F windchill for hours you learn the meaning of staying strong.  All that and you got a check for 16 hours that week cause of cold or lack of work at that time, but the bills are still the same.  It is a very hard lifestyle with stress from all kinds of different directions.

[trab]

whats wrong with blue collar work dude? we need more people like this...not less. that is an underlying problem in this country. the same people that laugh, ridicule, and turn their nose up to labor work are the first ones that bitch and moan about illegal immigration. not saying that im describing you per se....i dont know what your opinion is..

my point being that this country needs more prideful, loyal employees in every profession.

THis work destroys the body plain and simple... It pays well but get to a point the body cant do it.

ALL my friends are in that dilemma... I'm fortunate to have made a lot of $'s and be in a good position.

If he cant get into something else, he can get better rehab advice from sports oriented lifters and their therapists.
Westside, Elitefts, jumpstretch all have better rehab/ prehab info and video than any F'ing Physical therapist has shown me in thier 10 minutes devoted to actual movements.

I assume he's inquiring about pharma here on the AAS board.
Deca and light test cycles and HGH can help. They can also help you grind on injuries even harder.
Thats basically what pro athletes do, wring the last years out of the human machine.

A complete blood work up and check of Testo levels (Free and Total) is in order at this age.
Getting on these drugs is a personal matter of cost/ benefit and feelings about the use of them.

They can help, or help you continue to do things you really should have stopped doing to your injured body anyway.

Brick is tough.  I'd be lookin to get away from it.. Can you switch to lighter EFIS stucco? That is the rage up here.

[Overload]

I give him all the respect in the world for what he does. My grandfather on my mom's side of the family was a brick layer for 20 years. when his back started to mess up he took up truck driving and started his own trucking company...made good money.

it's true the hardworking american is few and far between but with a serious injury like this he needs to focus on what's best for his health.

[wes mantooth]

Im glad in ways I did it cause it taught me to be tough and be able to hang in there and not give up. 

thats all i needed to hear. good work ethic tell alot about a person. as i said, wasnt attacking you....but im glad were in complete agreement on "blue collar" work and the people that do it

[busyB]

I want to clarify as well that I respect his chosen profession. Brick laying is tough and if he has had two surgeries, why risk being in a wheelchair for the rest of his life?

Look into management, like Luv or a foreman of some kind. But I would think bricklaying involves a lot of positions that could wreck him further. Plus, what kind of physical shape is he in now? Sounded like the PT was not too intensive so your body can only take so much. If he is in kick ass shape, maybe a chance to continue but backs are trickey...

Like I said before, he's like a pro athlete that loves the game and does not want to step away. Sometime though, you need to go into the broadcast booth and hang up the cleats! 

[Luv2Hurt]

thats all i needed to hear. good work ethic tell alot about a person. as i said, wasnt attacking you....but im glad were in complete agreement on "blue collar" work and the people that do it

Its cool I know you were not attacking me.  I guess it just gave me a chance to explain further my feelings on it.

But yes it is an honarable profession and I agree not too many people being brought up today wanna work hard for a living, at least the ones I see.

[Overload]

But yes it is an honarable profession and I agree not too many people being brought up today wanna work hard for a living, at least the ones I see.

Damn right!

i work in an office and i hear people complaining all day about work and of all things the "weather"...this one lady was bitching about how she couldn't go to lunch because it was too cold and it takes too long for her heater to work in her car...fuck

this other guy complains about needing a break every 3 hours and all he does is AutoCAD and he sits at a computer all day long...what a rough life.

i swear this country is falling apart with all these people pissing and moaning about work. just fucking WORK and deal with it, it's part of life. i used to work in construction and i wouldn't trade my worst day in the office for my best day in the field. it's tough working out in the elements and people need to realize how lucky they are to have office jobs. my best friend is a commercial electrician and he works in 15 degree weather and 110 degree weather inside a warehouse with no a/c, then people at my work moan about the a/c being too cold...wake up!

[Luv2Hurt]

Damn right!

i work in an office and i hear people complaining all day about work and of all things the "weather"...this one lady was bitching about how she couldn't go to lunch because it was too cold and it takes too long for her heater to work in her car...fuck

this other guy complains about needing a break every 3 hours and all he does is AutoCAD and he sits at a computer all day long...what a rough life.

i swear this country is falling apart with all these people pissing and moaning about work. just fucking WORK and deal with it, it's part of life. i used to work in construction and i wouldn't trade my worst day in the office for my best day in the field. it's tough working out in the elements and people need to realize how lucky they are to have office jobs. my best friend is a commercial electrician and he works in 15 degree weather and 110 degree weather inside a warehouse with no a/c, then people at my work moan about the a/c being too cold...wake up!

Yeah i know its so true.  After I hung up the tools as a Carpenter and moved into this position about 8 years ago it felt like i was not even working anymore.  It was so easy and comfortable and slow paced. Lots of people dont even know what real work is. 

[super633]

Funny I ran into this topic. I too am a union tradesmen than had 2 back
Surgeries.  I had over 6 months of pt. with 2 of them being work conditioning. Now I am up to the point where I can start training with lightweights again and doing some cardio. Prior to my accident I was about to start my first cycle, and now after 18 months of sedentary living all my achievements are all but gone.  The purpose of my posting is to ask for guidance.  As soon as I am done with pt I am looking to get hooked up with a trainer in the Chicago area to help me get back to the point I was before.  The problem is locating trainers that are gear friendly.  My old trainer moved to NY.    As far as changing jobs, In my case it is not a real option.  It’s going to be hard for a 45-year-old man to find a $80,000 job plus benefits.  How ever I am open to any offers.  Thank you guys for any help and support you can offer.