I hope your recovery is going well. For reference for people checking your log, here's a grade 3 separation:

Thanks Rich!

I had the PRP procedure done 1/5, Tuesday. The doc said a lot of things during it. I remember most, but not all, because I was kind of drugged up. Stuff I remember:

-My neck was worse than he expected
-My shoulder was not as bad as he expected
-I have the largest and most symmetrical jugular he has ever seen
-My carotid arteries have been moved by all the muscle in my neck and they are also huge
-I have the largest atlas he's ever seen
-The old, thick muscles in my neck made it very difficult for the needles to get through to where he needed them to go. He told me before the injections began, he thought it would take 30 to 45 minutes. It took 90 minutes.
- The right supraspinatus tendon was about half torn in the middle of it.
- I have bone spurs in the front 1st and 2nd ribs
- He did a "parasympathetic nerve system reset" which was injections in through the neck that make the way your whole upper body moves change significantly.
- He injected PRP directly into at least 3 of my rotator cuff tendons: supraspinatus, infraspinatus and subscapularis. He might have done more, but I dont know for sure.
- He did some stuff in my left shoulder too, but much less than the right side.
- He did a lot of stuff in my neck, especially in the C1 & 2 areas.
- My C5/C6 joint capsule is torn. This is a fibrous material that holds synovial fluid in the facet joints. I think this has probably been this way for ~20 years or more and its probably why I frequently get a jacked up facet joint in this area. He shot PRP into it. I dont know if that will fix it or not.
- His new office is adjacent to my PT's office. She was supposed to treat me at 11 am, but he didnt finish with me until noon, so he invited her over to observe part of the treatment. That was good - she liked to see what he was doing and I am sure it helped her better understand some of the stuff I am dealing with.
- Much of the whole procedure was painful.
- I had PT with my PT's daughter immediately after he was finished injecting me. Her mom had another appointment by the time I was done. She's good, but not as good as her mom.

Since the procedure, the first day I could barely move my head or right shoulder. Each day, ROM has improved for both.

I saw my chiro Thursday and he did a lot of great things to make everything move and feel better.

Yesterday (Friday) I saw my PT and she did some good things and gave me some good things to do on my own. I will see her again next week.

I slept in a recliner for 3 nights because moving around and getting out of bed would have been bad. Last night I slept in bed and it wasn't bad. Doc said I would probably need to sleep in a recliner for a week or two, so I appear to be healing faster than he thought.

I did some walking on the treadmill and some hamstring curls last night.

Sounds pretty involved, but glad to hear you're on the road to recovery.

Yes it is, thanks!

This link is to a podcast where a good friend of mine, Dr Fred Clary, interviews my friend and regenerative injection doc, Ron Hanson. They did the interview about a half hour after my procedure was finished. They made a couple references to me during the conversation, but couldn't say a lot due to HIPPA. Fantastic stuff in here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/729959/7148344

Wow! I hope all of that work will have you as good as new.

Every day is better than the last so far.

PT did great stuff yesterday. She gave me a handful of extra exercises to do on my own as well. I've been doing a few already.

This parasympathetic nerve reset thing - its legit. I'm already feeling many body parts working better than they have in years. My spine adjusts effortlessly now too. It used to be difficult for my former Olympic medal winning heavyweight wrestler (the dude is strong as hell) to make many of my adjustments. Not anymore.

Shoulder still gives me a jolt when I move the wrong way. Its a pain in the front delt - that stems from the pecs, and I think that the work my doc did in the SC joint is the root cause. Apparently he did a lot in my right SC joint.

Neck is still a bit limited when I turn to the right, but ROM is getting way better. I can drive a car fine and put on a t-shirt with no issues too now. Putting on / taking off a t-shirt is now at a point that might be slightly better than it was prior to the procedure.


I've been walking on the treadmill at an incline usually ranging from ~5 to ~10 degrees at about an avg speed of 3 mph 3 - 4 times a week. I did about 40 minutes then another 20 minutes Tuesday, then I did about 20 minutes Wed. I installed some nice band pegs on my DL platform last night.

I've also been doing hamstring rehab by doing very light band curls for 5 minutes straight with each leg. I've been thinking about increasing the band tension and shortening this to ~2 minutes soon.

I did 3 DLs of 135 with about a 30 second static hold at the top a couple days ago. This felt super easy for everything except my right upper trap, which got a bit shaky and fatigued from it. PT says this is a good start and dont rush.

I'm glad you're coming back, slowly but surely. Shoulders definitely take a beating from a lifetime of lifting.

Thanks!

Last Fri, sumo DLs up to 405. Everything was good.

Tu, RDLs up to 410x5x3. Then a set of 40 GHRs.

Doing most of the Buchberger 12 4 times a week.

Everything still seems to be improving daily.

1/29

DL
225x5x2
315x2
405x1
455x1
455x1
495x1
495x1
495x1

bands
320+greenx3
315+bluex3

Buchberger shoulder stuff

walked up & down a lot of stairs with 20 lb ankle weights

treadmill 5 mins w ankle weights. Right hip was pretty fired up during the treadmill walk.

blast strap fallouts
3 sets of 15 moving feet back each set. The last set was hard. Then I moved the handles down to a few inches above the floor. I did 8. Abs were on fire. Shoulder is feeling great while doing these. I think they're helping.

I should update this log more often.

I've been gradually increasing everything. Shoulder rehab is going well and DL is going well.

I'm planning to do APF nationals DL only at 242. I'm ~250 now holding fairly steady the past few weeks. The WPC DL only world record for 242/55-59 is 650. I am currently thinking 606/655/???.

I'm sticking with sumo for the time being because my more upright torso angle at the starting position is easier on the shoulders. I had a front to back balance issue that I corrected by turning my feet just a tiny bit more forward.

This week I started DLing twice a week. Tuesday I worked up to 3 singles with 605.

2/26

I'm now warming up with 10 minutes on the treadmill at ~3 mph, 2.5 degrees of incline. Then I do leg curls with a medium band. Yesterday I did sets of 25 and 20 with each leg. Then I did X-band walks.

DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x2

suit
525x1
615x1
615x1

None of these were perfect, but they were all very good. Here's the last one:
https://rumble.com/ve7ttx-615-lb-dl....f=6zof&mrefc=2

Does anyone know how embed Rumble videos here?

RDLs
220x8
310x5
400x5
490x5
540x5

GHRs
20, 20, 25

I need to keep up with hamstring work so that I don't tear another one.

That sounds like a plan. Good luck rehabbing the injuries!

How much to you think the suit adds to your deadlift (compared to just a belt)? Just trying to put it in perspective. I've seen sources claiming around 3%. The WPC record book doesn't show any help at all, interestingly enough. The DL only world record for 110 kg / 55-59 is 295 kg, while raw is actually heavier at 300 kg.

Thanks!


Good question. There is no short, easy answer to this.

How much you can get out of a DL suit is very individual. Most people don't get very much. Many who aren't very good at geared DLing prefer raw because the suit pulls you forward and makes it hard to reach the bar, making it very difficult to get into good starting position. Most of those people cannot pull as much in a suit as they can raw.

I'm probably better than most people at DLing in gear. I don't know for sure how much I get out of the suit, but I'd guesstimate ~50 lbs when I am pulling well. And I based that guess on my old, original suit that I used for pulling conventional when I pulled 705 in a meet 6 years ago. I gave that suit to my wife and we had Ginny take in the legs, so I cant even wear it anymore.

I have no idea where my raw DL is at right now. I have no trouble pulling 405 x 2 double overhand in warmups, but I am always putting on my suit for 495+. Sometimes I do stuff like band DLs raw or sometimes in briefs. I probably do a little more in briefs, but not very much.

Most people who DL sumo get more out of their suits than they can DLing conventional, which is why most of the top multiply lifters at meets like the WPO DL sumo. But interestingly, most of the very best multiply DLs are conventional DLers. See below.

This suit I'm wearing now is new to me - its a Metal King sumo. I got it used a couple months ago. It is the only sumo suit I have. Its a stretchier material than all my other DL suits (I have two different Inzer Fusions - a 38 two pl and a 40 single ply with velcro). I can't even say for sure which suit of these three I get more out of, but the new one feels best for the style of DLing I am doing right now, so I will probably stick with this one at nationals.

I wear briefs under the suit too. I've tried several different sizes and plies. When I pulled 705, I was wearing two ply Inzer Predators, size 40 that were still fairly tight (these stretch out after you wear them a long time). I have three different three ply Preds now. Two are size 40 and one is size 38. The 38s are a bit too aggressive for DLing - they make it hard to get down to the bar. I like the newest used 3 ply 40s the best right now.

If you look at the very top DLers, its a mixed bag, but mostly raw pulls are > geared.

Conventional: Benedict Magnussen pulled 1,015 raw. Andy Bolton pulled over 1,000 twice in multiply. Going through the list is interesting. The next best conventional multiply pulls are 931 by Garry Frank, 927 by Tibor Mészáros (I assume he pulled this conventional, but I cant find video to prove it), 925 by Vladislav Alhazov (I assume he pulled this conventional, but I cant find video to prove it), 910 by Corey Miceli.

Sumo: Yuri Belkin's raw PR is 981. His single ply PR is 893. Belkin DLs beltless! Jamal Browner pulled 971 raw. Krzysztof Wierzbicki's raw PR is 955. Single ply its 925. Cailer Woolam 953 raw. It looks like Chris Della Fave has the biggest multiply sumo with 910 recently.

There are only 10 900+ lb multiply DLs recorded on openpowerlifting. There are 28 raw.

Thanks for your take on this. I guess some people benefit and some really don't.

Yes, and some (maybe most?) that don't have not put in the effort to make it work for them.

All geared lifting takes time to learn. The stretch reflex doesn't exist in a DL, so you cannot get anywhere near as much assistance from gear in a DL as you can in a bench shirt or squat suit, so I think that many people give up on DLing in gear too quickly.

2/28

Treadmill & shoulder rehab stuff


3/2

I am going to DL Tuesdays off blocks, starting with light-ish weight off 3" blocks. Fridays will be pulling from the floor.

3" block pulls
225 x 5 x 2
315 x 3
405 x 2
495 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1 - this was going to be my top weight, but it was way too easy.
655 x 1 x 2
Everything was pretty fast and not too difficult, but the first 655 got a little forward. My foot positioning for sumos is super important.

video of 655 off 3" blocks, 1st set

I ripped up my right hand a bit on the last pull, so I had to stop DLing for the day.

GHRs
6 sets of 25 reps
lolcardio

hamstring curls vs bands


3/3

treadmill & shoulder rehab stuff

3/5

DLs from floor
up to 625x1x2. I tore open the right hand blister again.


3/7
treadmill & shoulder rehab


3/9
4.5" block pulls
225x5x3
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
585x1
645x1
685x1
706x1
https://rumble.com/veipfl-706-lbs-of...f=6zof&mrefc=2


RDLs
220x8
310x5
400x5
490x5
560x5 - this was the hardest set of anything I've done in a while.

hamstring curls

Nice progress with your recovery.

560x5 RDL is yikes! please tell me you were using wrist straps - your grip must be crazy strong

Thanks!

I was using wrist wraps. I prefer to do RDLs double overhand and I suck at hook grip and I dont have any grip issues with my heaviest DLs, so I dont think I need to train grip while doing RDLs. Straps are the best way to do heavy RDLs imo. Its a core and posterior chain and exercise, not a grip exercise.

I usually put straps on for RDLs 4+ plates and I use mix grip for DLs 5+ plates usually. Double overhanding 3 plate RDLs and 4 plate DLs is pretty easy. I have pulled over 500 double overhand before, but that was hard. I dont want DLs to be about worrying about grip.

3/12

DLs up to 635 x 1 x 2 from the floor. My right hand blister came back. I need to get some hand protection.

These were not perfect, but they were good and still not difficult.

https://rumble.com/veopel-635-dl-off...-1st-of-2.html

https://rumble.com/veopfp-635-dl-2nd-set.html



3/14

treadmill and lots of shoulder rehab and pulling

i would never call a lift of this weight easy, so 'not difficult' is the right description. big thumb!

is it my eyes or does your left leg straighten/lock out slightly before your right leg does?

Thanks! If I pulled this weight off 12" blocks, it would be easy. The lifts in these videos are more difficult than they look though.

Maybe in the video shot from the front? Is that the one you're referring to? Good catch.

3/16

6" block pulls

236x5x2
326x3
416x2
506x1

suit
596x1
686x1
736x1
756x1
https://rumble.com/veqpp3-756-lb-6-inch-block-pull.html

safety bar squats in DL (loose) briefs
270x3
360x3
410x3
450x3

GHRs
25
vs purple band x 15
vs green band x 15