Today, the Leap Year, was a triumphant day. For the first time since pre-surgery, I was able to do a total body weightlifting workout. It felt GREAT. I was nice and loose, and my shoulders felt fantastic. I have been going to the gym 6 days a week. Doing legs with machines and the Echo Bike or Stairmaster, Treadmill or Sled. I received the clearance from my physical therapist to "try it and go light." The only upper body stuff I've done were TRX rows, band chest presses, band curls and band triceps press downs. I've been doing my physical therapy exercises 5 days a week and it's been a surprisingly easy recovery. The rotator cuff in the back of my shoulder is still weak, but I have 150 degrees of motion and no pain. It does get stiff and there is a lot of work left to do.
I had the surgery on November 17. Because they put a nerve blocker in my neck my pinky was numb for two days. I thought I would have pierced pain post-surgery, but it was nothing more than an intense dull ache. I was in a sling for 2 weeks. For the first 6 days, I took Tylenol and Advil regularly and 5 mg of oxycodone once a night for sleeping purposes. I stopped all pain relievers after 6 days. Didn't want any junk in my body.
I met with the doctor after 2 weeks to get the staples out. They were itching, but the orthopedist was really happy and said, "see you in 6 months." I took off the sling and started physical therapy. I've been dedicated to it as well as the homework exercises which have gotten progressively harder. It takes about 35 minutes to do all of them and when a new one is added it is a nice reminder of how far I still have to go. The physical therapist asked me to put my arm behind my back and see how far I could reach up my back. I barely got above my waist. She had me do it again, put a towel in my left hand and draped the slack over my right shoulder, put the other end in my right hand in the front and said, "pull and hold." That might have been the most painful think I've done in a LONG time. But now, I can reach to the middle of my back.
Today's lousy rehab exercise is lie on your stomach face down. Clasp your hands behind your head. Squeeze your shoulder blades today and lift your elbows off the ground. It's laughable how hard it is and how weak the rotator cuff still is.
The cardio end of my workouts has been going fantastic. I can do 10 miles on the Echo Bike or 10 minutes of HIIT sprints. I can run for 20 minutes at a 9 minute/clip on the treadmill and having great Stairmaster workouts. My resting heart rate is 46-53 and FINALLY, I've locked in my diet. I did get fat after surgery. Ballooned to almost 205 and that was my cue to do something. Ate like a complete asshole, throw in some weekend drinking and I was the Michelin man. I am down almost 10 lb. to 195, with at least 10 probably15 lb. to go. I've been doing the Kettlebell Burn Extreme Diet and recovery methods. It's working. I fasted twice for over 40 hours no problem and am locked in on day 11. It is amazing how the metabolism slows down at spry age of 55. I've discovered the cheat code for the cold exposure. My gym has a nice sauna that is over 175 degrees. Sit in there for 15-20 minutes, then jump into the cold shower. It makes it a treat after sweating out the toxins. I'm also getting walks in 5 days a week in the afternoon and over 10,000 steps. The hardest part of the diet in the first week was the no carb days, but this week, it's been much easier.
But isn't this a kettlebell blog? Ok here it is. I can do and have done goblet squats with a 24 kg and anywhere from 100-300 two-hand swings, multiple times. That's it. A couple of weeks ago, I was showing someone a snatch at the gym and did a 24 with my right hand for 2 reps. It was a shock when I got to the top how heavy it felt. I'm never pressing again, it's not worth it. I also was fooling around with my dog, on the floor and did a Turkish Getup with no weight off the floor. Zero coordination, it took me 2 tries
Today's workout, Machine calf raises 3 x 10, Hammer Strength Seated Rows 5x10 with a 45 lb. plate on each side. Machine chest press 40 lb. 3 x 10. Hammer Strength Shrugs 45 on each end 3 x 10. Goblet Squats 5 x 10. Deadlift 135 lb. 3 x 10, machine curls and triceps extensions 3 x 10 40 lb. Nice and slow and easy.
It's GREAT to be back.
