Rehab Resource Thread.

[Tensaw]

@Robert Mitchum Stating the obvious here (I guess) but staying strong into old age is a great strategy for longevity and just being able to enjoy life. Dr. Gabrielle Lyons has a great quote about doctors wanting to know your weight, but never checking on, “How *strong* is my patient?” Also, apparently grip strength is correlated with longevity.

Lastly - my first rule for training/working out as an old guy is, “Don’t get hurt.” Getting injured wrecks the whole program…

[MGW]

Dr. Stuart McGill has an interesting way of thinking about and explaining human back physiology, injury, prevention and recovery. I guess he works with a lot of high level athletes and is known for finding ways for them to recover to top levels of performance often without surgical interventions.

McGill’s book has been on my read list for a couple of months. On top of the shoulder issue, I have three bulging disks. When my low back is good, it’s good. When it’s bad, it’s really bad. If I’m smart about strength training and what/how I pick things up, I mostly avoid the flair ups.

I spent three months in PT for my back a couple years ago. It helped but I didn’t know I had bulging disks at the time. I’m not sure if the treatment plan would have been different or not.

[MickAK]

https://www.youtube.com/c/thekneesovertoesguy

I found this program to be incredibly useful recovering from a severe leg injury. He's very good about developing different angles and positions for you to gradually get strong enough to do each exercise. It's very handy for airports, offices and general places you find yourself waiting with no equipment but lots of time. I'm missing most of my VMO and Gracilis in my right leg and I was able to gradually do the full program.

[MGW]

Follow up with the ortho yesterday. I’ve gained a little range of motion from PT but my shoulder still won’t work the way it is supposed to. I’m too active to put up with it any longer. I have a subscap rotator cuff tear and possibly another tear farther forward. My labrum is also suspect. I’m still not sure exactly how I hurt it but it is probably a combination of 10 years of jits and other training and work related wear and tear. Surgery is scheduled for the end of October to better align with my work schedule and a planned trip.

So now I’m working on figuring out how I keep my cardio and lower body strength up during the rehab process. I’m also working on what concealed carry will look like during the same time frame.

[Cory]

Follow up with the ortho yesterday. I’ve gained a little range of motion from PT but my shoulder still won’t work the way it is supposed to. I’m too active to put up with it any longer. I have a subscap rotator cuff tear and possibly another tear farther forward. My labrum is also suspect. I’m still not sure exactly how I hurt it but it is probably a combination of 10 years of jits and other training and work related wear and tear. Surgery is scheduled for the end of October to better align with my work schedule and a planned trip.

So now I’m working on figuring out how I keep my cardio and lower body strength up during the rehab process. I’m also working on what concealed carry will look like during the same time frame.

At least your going to get it fixed.

Is bicycle work an option for cardio? If it's not an air assault style bike, it seems like regular leg only biking would be a good option for cardio that doesn't include your shoulder. Similarly, it would be a good lower body work out. I assume stuff like regular body squats and iron mikes would be options for lower body strength. Personally, I HATE iron mikes. They're like cardio and strength mixed together in a way that is nearly as terrible as burpees. I wind up doing them anyway.

[Joe Mac]

An anecdote: I tore the shit out of my meniscus in BBJ fundamentals class (twisted on the mat while my weight was on it and my knee bent at 90 degrees). Every doc says that healing is impossible and surgery is mandatory. Problem was, I had some contracted performances in the weeks immediately following, including some quartet gigs where the show literally couldn’t go on if I wasn’t on my part. Plus, I had signed up for my first ECQC, and I didn’t want to bail. So, I limped around for a couple of months, during which time my knee went from not being able to bend at all and barely fitting into my pants due to grapefruit-sized swelling, to a bit more motion and less swelling. I also had plenty of time to talk with many friends who’d had bits of meniscus sniped out over the years, and all of them were having knee problems and recommended a wait and see approach.

So I hit a routine of gentle stretching, therapy bands, and lots of bicycling—stationary at first, trail fatbiking later—and plenty of strength training.

Eventually, and by eventually, I mean several years, I was able to get back on the mat, and I’m squatting and deadlifting more than ever before. Nobody would have any idea that my knee is a disaster area inside (except for training partners, because it still locks up on occasion). It’s never going to be as good as pre-injury, but it wouldn’t have been with surgery either.

About 14 year ago I blew out my right meniscus while training stones for a strongman contest. I felt (and heard) a POP, and my knee was in pain for months afterward -- but I did the contest and won several events, including the stones. I never went to a doc at the time, because the knee was gradually improving on its own, I found it manageable, and there was no way I was having surgery in any event.

So the knee stopped hurting after a few months, and I continued doing what I do. Fast forward a bunch of years and we're having frequent riots at work. I'm marching/jogging for miles on pavement, up and down hills, wearing 50+ pounds of crap. The knee flared up badly: swelling, pain, occasional buckling or locking up. Now it's an L&I claim so I figure what the hell, I'll go talk to a doc. I end up with an orthopedic surgeon who orders a bunch of imaging; the punchline was that for all those years, my meniscus was almost entirely split lengthwise. It was just hanging by a frayed thread at the rear. The doc explained that the only reason it wasn't hurting most of the time was that everything around the knee joint was so strong, the meniscus could be AWOL without ill effect. He advised against surgery -- said he could could go in and clean up some frayed ends, but that was it, and it probably wouldn't help the current pain. His final advice: "You know your body better than I do. With all your training experience, you'll figure out how to make it stop hurting." So I did, and was back to big DLs and squats within a few months.

Along the way I compared notes with a buddy who'd had a severe knee injury on a K9 track, and had one meniscus entirely removed. Nonethless, he was squatting and DLing more than he ever had at 50+ years old. His advice: "Gotta keep it strong and lubed. Never miss a workout." About the only thing I've had to cut out was an old favorite burpee-into-pullup circuit with a weight vest -- or any other explosive jumping, especially weighted.

So it sounds like we've had a similar experience, and learned the same lessons.

[Totem Polar]

So it sounds like we've had a similar experience, and learned the same lessons.

Quite so, old chap. Very interesting…

[MGW]

At least your going to get it fixed.

Is bicycle work an option for cardio? If it's not an air assault style bike, it seems like regular leg only biking would be a good option for cardio that doesn't include your shoulder. Similarly, it would be a good lower body work out. I assume stuff like regular body squats and iron mikes would be options for lower body strength. Personally, I HATE iron mikes. They're like cardio and strength mixed together in a way that is nearly as terrible as burpees. I wind up doing them anyway.

I’m leaning toward a stationary bike and going to the Y to walk on a treadmill at an incline.

Making the decision to do surgery was a several month process. What it boiled down to was I can’t do the things I like to do. Jits has been non-existent. I’m limited on what weight or body weight training I can do. Shooting has been very limited too. I’ll think my shoulder is getting better then I’ll do something it doesn’t like. I’ve gotten really good at staying within the limitations of my shoulder. But I’m in my early 50s and I don’t want to limit my activity. I want to enjoy the stuff I like to do.