Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Well, this past year has been an amazing year for me in bodybuilding, I hit some new highs, made some amazing gains in strength and size. I had some nice compliments from a lot of people as a result and it felt good. Well, it all cam crashing down on August 8th when I felt a pain under my right clavicle during a set of DB bench presses. Not being smart, I finished my workout, although I did cut it short. I took the remaining portion of the week off and tried coming back light the next week but the pain was back! I saw an ortho and he suggested taking two weeks off. I did that and after the last two days of light workouts, here I am again....more pain.
I believe I did not warm up enough this particular day.

He thinks it is a strain or sprain, doesn't think it is a tear but it does hurt!

Sp, I am told to take another two weeks off and it may take months! I am watching me lose muslce and get out of shape. I can no longer look at myself in the mirror.

So, I am willing to take the time off and just do cardio, what else can I do. But, I can;t let this happen again.
Any ideas on ways to avoid? What could I have done differently. I can tell you i will take warm up even more seriously going forward, breaking a sweat, going through some light sets and stretching before hitting heavier weights.

Well yeah, you said you didn't do many pushups and only 1 warmup set of the exercise before a max effort set - so don't do that lol. But you already know that.

It doesn't take long to build back previously built muscle. It's not like starting again. I would keep the eating up while concentrating on your cardio and get your fitness levels sky high. It will do wonders for avoiding depression as well.

Keep your chin up man, you'll be healed in no time!

To make things worse a few days ago I hurt my thoracic spine or mid spine really bad. So bad, that walking has been painful. This morning I re-tweaked it this morning and so here I am am with a painful mid back and mess up shoulder or clavicle or trap (not sure) and no working out any time soon.

What about doing some isolation work for various muscles? Perhaps triceps extensions, shrugs, lateral arm raises, biceps exercises, etc. As long as they don't cause any pain.

This will keep your muscles strong and will make it easier to get back to compound movements when you are healed.

Martin, I tried shrugs and the pain was intense.....pain came right back.

After I take a few more weeks off I am going to try to come back slow with isolation work....but I would like to get back in there next week and start on some leg work, abs, etc.
It seems like it doesn't take much toaggravate the injury. This would be easier if I knew exactly what was injured! Hard to pinpoint. My fear is re-injuring the tendon or muscle doing an isolation movement and then I am right back where I started or so it seems. Back is the hardest to hit with this injury...any sort of row aggravates it!

It does not seem to be getting better...in fact it really hurts. I feel it would be better in a sling, hurts to brush teeth or do anything.

If you're also looking to increase the strength of muscles around the injured area underneath your clavicle, I'd recommend some band work. Find yourself a good band, usually provided at gyms, attach it to a sturdy object and start doing a little resistance training to build the muscles back up. This is something they do for many pitchers after Tommy Jon surgery and has done wonders for their injuries to the general area of the shoulder. This also offers very little risk of injury since you can place as much pressure on the tendon as you feel comfortable with without worrying about a weight falling on top of you. You can also do this with your core by holding the band out in front of you and rotating left or right. It gives your back that good stretch without really overdoing it. This kind of resistance training will begin to build your strength back, activating many of the smaller muscle fibers while also increasing cross bridges (actin and myosin) and improving existing ones. They use this form of exercise in rehabilitation for many athletes and I would recommend it if you're looking for something good to warm up with.

Are you saying to always use the bands to warm up the area or just as rehabilitation?

One thing I have done in the past to come back from injury is work at the cable station and do about 12 different exercises taking shoulder through many exercises with light weights. I found it easier than the bands since everything is ready to go and I can go as light as I want too.

This is killing me not being able to lift. Make sme angry, moody and depressed. If I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel it would be easier, but I can't see the end yet. My Ortho said it was minor based on his testing with me and that I should rest and keep trying light weights until I can go at it again.

It feels like it is in the trap....weird I could strain my trap during a bench press. Maybe there is a slight tear.
It's been almost 5 weeks. I am losing my muscularity.


Rich

You could try eccentric (negative) contractions for some movements. This is sometimes used in rehabilitation for tendon injuries.

You could also try mental training - imagining that you moving a weight in the usual manner. This has been used to build or maintain strength. Most studies have used muscles controlling the fingers but some have used bigger muscles such as biceps. It doesn't build bulk but might maintain it.

I agree with MartinVegrtin on his comment. I've heard that negative movements can be very beneficial for the muscles as well. I would recommend bands to warm up the area and for rehab. Pitchers put their shoulders through unnatural movements all the time and often times build the strongest shoulder muscles as far as strength in the tendons go. They use bands all the time since their prime concern is to keep their shoulders, and in effect their arms, loose and ready for a good workout, whether it be throwing a five ounce ball or hitting the weights. It may be tedious and a little boring but it's worth it if you want to be healthy to see bigger gains.

Hi guys, thanks for all the suggestions! I went into the gym the last two days and did light workouts....mostly cable work for chest, triceps, back and biceps and no problems!...this is a good sign! I am trying shoulders later this week. We'll see.

Today...the pain and soreness is back.

Rich