Nice squats, thats a cool milestone to hit. Hope the hand gets better soon

+1 to all

Congratulations!

Crushing it!

Thanks guys! It's motivating to know you strongbros are checking this thread out.

Posting to add: I didn't do rows because I had to rush home to coach 2 students back-to-back and once that was done it was too late to go back to the gym. Forgot to do chins last night to make up for it, but doing them now.

[Update: 1/27/2018]

Squat 255 x 4, 3 (light day, but wrists didn't hold up)
Deadlift 295 x 5

Wrist wraps didn't show up. Tried thumbs over without the wraps but didn't feel good -- hence cutting it short.
Didn't want to press, letting palm heal.

How do you guys feel about this deadlift form?

My SBD wrist wraps just came in. Got the flexible size medium. They feel amazing. Good support even tied loose but if I really tie them down tight it's like a cast.
Can't wait to try these out on Monday.

Seems like you‘re overdoing the lockout by leaning back. Otherwise the DLs seem fine to my amateur eyes.

Thanks GermanGuy. I'll look into that.

Asked Jordan about the hand via Inta live. He seemed to say at worst I may have avulsed a tendon or damaged the synovial sheath. That if the pain didn't go away/get better to get it checked out.

The bruising is very light and small. ROM is fine. No pain flexing/extending the hand or digits. It used to hurt washing my hands but now that I've rested a few days it doesn't. Only hurts if I press down with some force on that spot. So I assume it's just something minor that's getting better.

I decided to skip the gym because of my hand + there is a nasty flu going around with a lot of reports in my city. Would rather not have to end up needing to see a doctor over either of those.
Will probably miss a few sessions

bump hopefully flu season is over

Hey, thanks for the bump.

So I think the hand injury was worse than I thought. Shortly after my last post I realized that I could feel that my tendon was raised. It isn't very visible, but it's very very obvious on palpation.
It's been like 5-6 weeks, and it's still raised, and the area is still a little tender and there is still what seems like light bruising under the skin.

I did a ton of research on the anatomy and common injuries (the literature is almost entirely rock climbing related). I'm no doctor but I think I may have torn the A1 pulley, or damaged the ulnar bursa.

Still have full mobility. Grip doesn't feel weak (tho I haven't really tested it hard). I have some stiffness and aches, but honestly that could be mental or even because I'm subconsciously using the hand less.

Everything I've read about pulley tears and tendon ruptures has emphasised stressing the area after a few weeks of immobilization, but I have been too scared to do anything without a diagnosis.

I've got an appointment with a hand specialist for tomorrow. Will see how to proceed from there.

I've been dying to get back to the gym. But I've been pretty down about the hand and the thought of just doing leg press machines has bummed me out more.
So I decided to make my goal to lose weight until I get back to the gym.
Was 205lbs when I quit the gym. Down to 189 now.

Damn son. Sucks about the hand, but congrats on the weight loss!

Just got back from the doctor's office.
He seemed very unconcerned. Didn't want to do any imaging.

His first thought was Dupuytren's contracture. Then he thought it could be some irritation of the tendon. He thought A1 pulley tear was unlikely but also if it was that, it wouldn't be an issue (they purposely release them all the time to fix trigger finger).

I stressed to him that I wanted to be sure that I wasn't going to be doing more damage by getting back to the gym -- he didn't think it would be a problem.

His recommendation was 2 more weeks of rest, daily ibuprofen, and then to get back to weight lifting lightly. And to come back if it worsened or I wasn't able to lay my hand flat on a table.

I'm not sure about the Dupuytren's. I know it can happen in people younger than 50, but not usual. And it feels less superficial. He had me flex my finger while he felt the area and he lost confidence in that diagnosis. Still not impossible. I'll do some more research on it.

Either way, glad to get the OK from an orthopedic surgeon hand specialist with sports medicine background to get back in the gym. Will be mindful of my grip, use wraps, and try to not go HAM for a few months.
I think I'll take 1 more week off and then get back to it.

I wish I had $1 for every time I have heard that from a doc.

I'm glad he isnt concerned, but I'm not much of a fan of his advice.

Dupuytren's contracture sounds like what I have in my left hand. Does your hand look anything like this?
It has taken several years for it to get this way.

Yeah, I'm not thrilled that I didn't even get an actual diagnosis. But I went in there to see if I needed imaging, surgery, or to avoid the gym. And I really want to believe he's right about all 3.

No, my palm doesn't look like that at all. There is absolutely nothing visible on my hand (except for very faint redness where the pain was). You can feel a cord (which I assume is a flexor tendon) that runs along my tendon, but it isn't visible and it doesn't affect mobility at all.
I'm also 31 and not northern European. And like I said the doctor ended our meeting unconfident in his initial guess. It's still possible it could be Dupuytren's though.

What you have is definitely Dupuytren's contracture.
Fun fact: the #1 cause for elective finger amputation is poor outcome from a D.C corrective surgery.
Luckily there are two non-surgical procedures that can fix D.C (unless it comes back, but both procedures can be repeated as needed).
There is 'needling' where they just take a needle and break the cord apart. ~2week recovery time. Can last year's or indefinitely.
Then there is an injection into the cord which breaks it apart. I think even less recovery time and similar outcome.
I think the surgery is only recommended for extreme cases at this point.

Has yours ever given you issues weightlifting?

I think it was brought on at least partially about 8 years ago when I was doing ab wheel rollouts and the handle was poking me there. It has gradually gotten worse over the years. It causes minimal pain when I put a lot of pressure on it and it might limit my grip strength very slightly, but I was able to grip a 685 lb DL the other day and it did not feel like my left hand was losing grip at any point.

I have shown it to my chiropractor and he is unconcerned.

I probably have the beginnings of it on my right hand now.

My guess is if you have something similar and stay active and keep lifting over many years, it probably will have little or no impact on your lifting. My guess is you do not need it treated and you probably dont need to rest it. I am not a doctor, but I do have a lot of experience with good and bad doctors treating lots of injuries, including what you might have, and I have gotten both good and bad advice many times, and I think the doctor you saw gave you a less-than-optimal treatment direction, so take that for what its worth.

If I were you, I would go see a Biomechanics Certified provider of Active Release Technique. While I was there, I would also let him know about the knee problem you had (have?), along with anything else that might be bothering you physically.

[Update: 3/13/2018]

Squat 185 x 5 x 3
Press 95 x 5, 85 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 180 x 5

Feels great to get back in here.
Had to push myself to not push myself today. This isn't a race to get back to my old numbers. This is just my day to day life of going to the gym. The numbers will work themselves out.

I guess I can start eating some food again.
Kinda fun challenging myself to lose some weight in my off-time and losing 20lbs in 7weeks.

Going to have to put some effort at not lifting as if I have an injured finger.

[Update: 3/15/2018]

Squat 225 x 5 ... 245 x 5 x 2
Bench 135 x 5 x 3
Rows 135 x 5 x 3

First set of 225 squats were a joke. And the 245 still felt like a warm-up. Not sure what I'll do from here but 10lb jumps seems ok.

Benching with wraps is fun. Couldn't settle on a grip that didn't feel like it might irritate the hand. Maybe I shouldn't even try.

Missed a gym day because I went to see Joe Rogan.
Planned to make up for it on Saturday but just forgot about it. Will get back in there tonight.

[Update: 3/20/2018]

Squat 255 x 5 x 3
Bench 145 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 245 x 5

Squat - kinda heavyish but I also took shorter rest periods.
Bench - Still trying to figure out a good setup.
Dead - E.Z.

Messing around with grip variations in all to avoid bothering my hand. Hand seems good right now.

Will start eating a lot again soon. Kinda holding off until things feel F'n heavy again.

Glad you're back it and hand is feeling k. How was Rogan? I've always liked his standup

Thanks!

3rd time I've seen Rogan live. Second time at the same venue.
Rogan was good as ever. Really enjoyed his set.

But he decided this tour to use this service that makes everyone put their cellphone in a locked bag that staff has to close/open for you. It's the ****ing stupidest old-man solution to a technology non-problem ever. Yes, people on their phones during a set are annoying, but 99% of the time it's not an issue. And just ****ing deal with it, people are only going to get more and more attached to their phones.
I basically never take my phone out of my pocket when I leave the house, so I didn't care about not having my phone -- but the absurd amount of time it took to get everyone in and then out of the venue... Like we showed up 30min early and still missed 75% of Hinchcliffe's opener. People were still showing up in large numbers minutes into rogans set. And it took forever to get out.

forgot to update

[Update: 3/22/2018]
Squat 265 x 5 x 3
Press 105 x 5 x 3
Rows 145 x 5 x 3

[Update: 3/24]

Squat 270 x 5 x 3
Bench 150 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 255 x 5

[Update: 3/27/2018]

Squat 275 x 5 x 3
Press 107.5 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 265 x 5

Went to ihop afterwards.