Powerlifting Injury Rehab

Last Sunday i decided to hit the gym for a light unplanned session prior to commencing a new training block. The intention was warm up to 3 moderate sets of deads, military presses then finish with prowler.

Sounded pretty straight forward until the 2nd rep of my 3rd set when part way up in my pull, inexplicably my lumbar went into flexion. No warning, the weight was light but... bam and then the pain.  So being a typical meat-head I finish the set and my workout.

Next morning some nasty damn pain in the lower back which eased a little on the drive to work but resulted in me getting stuck and locked half way into bending down to tie my shoelace! Really fucking annoying.

So first step is to call the best damn physio in Perth Sean Sullivan at Floreat physiotherapy. Sean and his offsider Kym are fantastic at getting athletes back training quickly. So after a prescribed night of pain killers Sean works his magic and suggests that the pain will ease off in the next 24-48 and after a follow-up 4 days later I am starting to feel good.As an added bonus he diagnosed the glute weakness which has caused the adductor pain I have been dealing with this year on my left leg.

The approach I really like about Sean is that he, (obviously dependant on the injury) emphasises getting you mobile and back in the gym early to continue the healing. This obviously works well for power-lifters etc since we usually get all fucked up when we can't train.

Now the lesson to be learned is that while I am feeling better there is still a risk the first week after the injury. Therefore I am not going to jump back into the deads and squats. Rather I will work on the glute activation and adductor work along with bench for the next week. Then I'll will reintroduce the squat and dead back in during week two but with a much lower percentage. I have to keep remembering I am 43 and this body isn't exactly built for this sport so a bit of patience goes a long way!

Oh and remember if you are in Perth and need a physiotherapist Sean and Kym at Floreat Physiotherapy are damn fine clinicians. Tell them Thomo sent you!

Stay Strong

Thomo