I may train later today and edit this post but I wanted to update my visit with the surgeon today. He’s a very well respected surgeon. It was overall an encouraging visit, however it won’t be until July 11th until I finally have the surgery (8 weeks). He told me I have a good chance of coming back to Olympic weightlifting, but my recovery time depends on how much hard articular labral cartilage I have torn. He can repair the softer/more superficial cartilage pretty easily, but he’ll have to do a microfracture procedure where he inserts cadaever cells into the socket to repair the deep tissue. The more deep cartilage I have torn, the longer I have to spend on crutches. I have to stay on crutches for at least 2 weeks minimum but it could be 6 weeks depending on if he has to do the microfracture procedure. Full rehab will take 3-4 months which will mean it will be at least by October/November before I can start training hard again if everything goes well. Finally, I asked him if I have avascular necrosis and he’s told me that there’s a very good chance that I do not have it.
I really have to be careful with my training now to make sure that I don’t irritate any more deep cartilage. He didn’t tell me to stop doing any activity so I will keep doing the single leg work as long as there’s zero pain. I’m going to continue doing a lot of upperbody Poliquin style bodybuilding work during this time, especially heavy benching. EMS Max strength will also continue to be a good friend of mine over these next 6-7 months.
As far as my HRV numbers this morning, it was a lot higher than it usually is. I don’t know if it was because I woke up 3hrs earlier than normal, well rested myself this weekend, or what.
Tuesday, 5.21.13
HRV - 94.8, RHR - 58.1
Bench - 3 x 5 w/ 185 (easy this week)
Incline Hammer Press 4021 - 3 x 12, 35lbs
Arnold Press - 4021 - 3 x 10, 15lb DBs
Butterfly Lateral Raise machine - 4022 - 3 x 8, 50lbs
Seated French Press machine 4021 - 3 x 12, 40lbs
Wednesday, 5.22.13
HRV - 102.6, RHR - 53.8
Bulgarian SS - 4 x 6, 65’s
DB RDL - 3 x 10, 45’s
SL Leg Press - 40X1 - 3 x 12
SL Leg Ext - 4021 - 2 x 10
Speedcoach lv2
Quads - 27/19 (27 on VL, 19 on VMO), seated straight leg position
Hamstrings - 39/31 (left/right)
Glutes- 56/41 (left/right)
Thursday, 5.23.13
HRV - 81, RHR - 64.8
Pullups - 3 x 5 +10lbs
Wide Grip Lat PD 4021 - 4 x 10
Seated Hammer Row 4021 -4 x 10
Incline DB curl 2020 - 4 x 10
EMS Active Recovery mode
I have no idea why my HRV skyrocketed into the 100’s Wednesday. The only change that I’ve recently had in my daily life is that I added L-Glycine before bed lately. My other guess is that it could be that the pollen count has been lower than usual which means less inflammation to what I’m allergic to. As of today, my HRV dropped down over 20 points and I’ve been sneezing all day along with the pollen levels raising considerably. I think there’s a correlation.
With the EMS yesterday, I didn’t have access to put my feet into the leg extension machine while doing the max contractions and I wasn’t able to even use half the mA with the seated straight leg position. It was also much more painful. I’m going to experiment with different pad placements to see if I can make a positive change.
Wasn’t able to train during vacation and was afraid that my EMS unit wouldn’t pass through security at the airport so I didn’t bring it. I tried out some bike sprints and did feel some irritation in the hip so I’ll have to discard them. I loved doing them, easy to get lactate buildup but not worth damaging any soft tissue over it. If I do them again, I will have to have less hip flexion in the movement. With the EMS session today, I used contact gel for the first time and felt much strong contractions and less of a pin/needles feeling. Regarding HRV/RHR during my vacation, the numbers stayed real high up in the 97/55 range.
Tuesday, 6.4.13
HRV - 89, RHR - 69.8
A1). Single Arm DB OH Press 40X0 -5 x 8, 20, 40 (fail), 30, 30, 30
A2). CG Chin-up 40X0 - 5 x 6, BW
B1). Flat NG DB Bench 2020 - 4 x 10, 30-35’s
B2). BO Lateral Raise 2020 - 4 x 8, 15’s
C1). Incline DB Curl 3010 - 4 x 8, 15’s
C2). Supinated EZ Bar French Press - 4 x 12, 30lb bar
D1). Shoulder Ext Rotation 5020 - 3 x 10, 5lbs
D2). Prone Wrist Curl - 1010 - 3 x 15, 20lb BB
EMS Active Recovery - 20min quads only
After reading Charles Poliquin’s updated Poliquin Principles book, I decided to give his structural balance in the shoulders advice a try. With the Single Arm OH DB Press I was much stronger with my right side than my left. I think it will be important in getting my shoulders bulletproof before going back into weightlifting.
Wednesday, 6.5.13
HRV - 84.5, RHR - 69.8
Bulgarian SS - 3 x 10, 60’s
Prone SL Leg Curl 3020 - 10, 5, 5, 5 30-40lbs
DB RDL 2020 - 45’s x 10, 60’s x 8, 75’s x 8
Hip Abd 5050 - 2 x 15
I realize my HRV numbers are going down drastically and it’s recommending me to take a complete rest day but I’m going to ignore it and see how it and my body responds. I was a bit sore today but felt fine mentally. I may do an EMS session later today depending on how occupied I get, I’ll edit this post if I do.
Yes, pain and the hip impingement affects the way I perform. I can’t even flex my hip 30 degrees without having to externally rotate it to get to 90 degrees. I’ve had symptoms of FAI for 5 years but ever since I started ATG squatting, things really got worse and haven’t been able to lift without pain in 12 months.
You still gonna get the 5th gen then? I don’t know how much better bluetooth is since I bought my device before the bluetooth strap came out. Probably the only convenience is that you don’t have to use the ECG receiver in the headphone jack.
Since the 2nd gen has already been shipped I will see if I’m able to download the app - if not ill order 3rd gen. I would buy an iphone 5 before paying for ipod 5th gen.
Yes, both FAI and the labral tear were diagnosed by the MRI and MR Hip Arthrogram. I have both soft cartilage torn and some deep articular cartilage torn as well. It was caused by the bone spur that’s on my acetabulum (CAM impingement). FAI is a hard condition to diagnose and initally after 3 X-Rays, a CT scan, and the first MRI they still couldn’t recognize that I had FAI until I switched doctors/imaging centers.
I have been studying pain science and neuroscience for the last 10 months. I got in to it through my own hip pain issue, and being unhappy with the explanations given for how massage therapy works.
Pain is complex. Tissue damage will not necessarily result in pain and it is common for people to be walking around with “damaged” tissue and be completely pain free-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21233405.
So in your case where pain is chronic, it is even less likely that pain is caused by the tears, as tissue damaged initially by the spur will have long since healed. It’s possible you have some mechanical pain-tension in a nerve. The signals that nerve sends may be interpreted as a threat by the brain. Pain is the brains protective response.
If the bone spur is not physically blocking your hip flexion, only the pain, surgery may be unnecessary. Many physios, doctors and surgeons do not properly understand pain. If you let me know where you live, I may be able to point you in the direction of a physio who does and can advise on the best course of action.