Hello all,
Just thought I would share my story and recent experiences. Any type of positive reply at all is welcome, just looking to get people's thoughts, own personal experiences, someone you know that is went through this, etc...
I broke my arm through arm wrestling two weeks ago. I was as shocked as anyone. The pain was unbelievable. It happened at work. I tend to be labeled as the big guy since no one else really works out like I do (or did). We hired a new guy who is also kind of big. Well, it became a mob mentality and all my co-workers wanted to see us go at it. There was a voice inside telling me no because I have a history of rotator cuff issues as well as elbow plus I had recently eased up on power training and was doing more cardio because my blood pressure is high. Unfortunately, I let my concern about what my co-workers thought outweigh my other concerns, a mistake I will never make again. Well, we went at it for ten seconds or so, he had an initial advantage on me, I pushed back and then my humerus just snapped. I felt my training career flash before me. I am about 245, bench of around 300 or so and I was shocked my arm broke so easy. Apparently arm wrestling is a dangerous activity as you get older.
I opted to go for surgery. It was a tough choice, surgery or heal natural. Both have their pluses and minuses. I just hope I made the right decision. I am 36 years old and hugely passionate about lifting. Most people in my life seemed to think this was the route to go, surgery, especially if I was interested in continuing to be healthy and work out heavy like I am used to. I got a plate and 10 screws put in, for my humerus. There is no doubt the recovery period is quicker this way, but I just hope I can eventually get my full range of motion back. I am pretty limited with how far I can bend my elbow right now, I just started physical therapy yesterday. The surgery was only ten days ago too so I shouldn’t be too impatient. I just hope I can get back to the gym soon. The doctor says it takes about 3 to 4 months for the bone to fully calcify. It is so hard to wait!
So right now I am just doing stretches. My diet has been pretty clean, mostly protein, vegetables, fruits, milk, a little bit of carbs like oatmeal and wheat bread. Supplements are a multi-vitamin, calcium w/vitamin D (maybe get some boron to go with this), ZMA, vitamin C and BCAAs and Glutamine in a desperate effort to preserve muscle mass! Exercise right now is just walking. I will probably do some cardio at the gym.
I am also wondering about going to the gym to do some occasional one-sided lifting. I obviously wouldn't want to make a habit out of it and get one side bigger than the other, that would create a whole new issue. But I have heard some say one sided training can have an indirect effect on the other side of the body. Not a lot, I'm sure. At this stage I still have to be careful too, even getting into position for like a one-arm dumbell bench press would mean bracing myself somewhat with the other arm and I think that would be too much stress at this point. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Well, any comments are appreciated. I am beyond asking if the surgery is a good route to go, I have the plate in me. I have heard from some it limits their training, others say it's not noticeable at all, once things heal. Obviously I hope I fall into the latter category. Any type of inspiration or support is appreciated. This was a huge blow to me physically and psychologically. I especially love to train this time of year as the weather is getting nicer, but I have to wait to heal now. Thanks for reading this long post, any comments are appreciated.
Paul
