First blog post, OmGzzz (no Usher)! Maybe we'll all get famous like that Perez Hilton fag, oh wait, can I say that on this blog? I hope this isn't one of those "accept everyone" PC blogs. If it is, put me out of my misery. So I digress...
I'll go through what happened today in the gym and then give you some insight as to what I've been dealing with (see that Ben, it's kind of like an executive summary, no Diada):
Today, at 24 Hour Fat-ness, I mean 24 Hour Fitness, I am squatting. And no, I won't tell the weight because it's fucking embarrassing. So I have on an eliteFTS t-shirt and in the middle of my last set of 8 reps, I'm extremely pissed off because of two things: 1.) I hate counting above 5 and 2.) some ghey-sian (PC?) is standing right behind me and I'm not sure if he's going to tickle my ass crack or try to spot me, whatever. So, after I rack the bar he says, "DUDE! Are you almost done?"
Me: Yeah, I'm finished
G: Cool. I used to follow Dave Tate and Jim Wendler too! (I'm assuming he saw my shirt)
Me: Nice man, so what happened?
G: I got hurt deadlifting and now I'm doing CrossFit
Me(In my head): What a pussy
Me(spoken): CrossFit? really? Wow, how's that going?
G: It's good man, I know they all hate CrossFit.
Me: Yeah, well whatever floats your boat man. I hurt myself pulling too, so I feel your pain.
G: blah blah blah
So, contrary to my prior comments about him being a douche and gay, he was actually an alright guy and seemingly straight; it just sounded much more badass when I wrote it that way. I'm not that much of an asshole, I'm actually pretty nice to everyone in the gym.
After our brief power rack chat I thought to myself, maybe this kid is onto something. I mean, shit, I've been hurt seemingly for the past 2 years straight. I could have gotten hit by a Northbound Commuter my senior year and have recovered faster than this bullshit. Then I paused to think how my training and life would be without the powerlifting mindset..... I would be a huge gaping vagina. This is clearly unacceptable for both myself and the female anatomy.
So, after 3 seconds of contemplation, I came to the conclusion that I would never stop training (or be one of those CrossFit nutswingers haha). Despite all the injuries I've accumulated, I wouldn't be able to respect myself ever again knowing that I pussed out. I quit, I gave up entirely on one of the things I love the most in my life. Sure 3 different doctors have told me to stop lifting, but really? Fuck them. A family friend who is a radiologist looked at my lumbar MRI and said, "Mike, if I were you, I would stay out of the gym completely. You need to find something else to do, seriously". Let me tell you how depressing that was to hear. I digress again though. Don't worry though, more emo-drama to come.
History:
While I was training at the IM building (when you could actually do overhead presses), things were fan-fucking-tastic. Progress was there, even though it wasn't as fast as I (or any of us) wanted it. Came into freshman year @ 135, left @ 180, so there was really nothing to be disappointed about. Of course, hind sight is 20/20 and what I would give to go back and have my body feel the way I did during school.
After graduation, I was training at Muscles in St. Clair Shores (yeah, that's right bitches, I found that gym). I was running a training cycle for my second 'meat'. I think Ben, crazy Pete, and Trev were going to lift in it as well. So, training at muscles was new and it brought some really shitty things, seemingly out of the blue:
I would say, probably the 3rd week of training there, I started feeling what I would describe as a twinge in the right shoulder. As non-pussies do, I said 'fuck it' and kept pressing. Well, here's the thing, when you keep saying 'fuck it' and continue on for 6 more months, you run into some serious issues. Sure, I couldn't even lay on it in bed without it hurting like a mofo, but whatever! I gotta get my bench up! I finally gave in and went to my doc. He sent me to an ortho. X-rays showed deterioration of the clavical. Really quite odd because I could see myself on the x-ray that part of my clavicle was actually eroded away. Quite the unsettling feeling, indeed. Ortho told me to stay away form anything that hurts. Ok, sure guy. Like an idiot, I continued on. Most of the things I did didn't hurt, but the day after, I could tell it was inflammed like crazy. Not exactly conducive to bone regeneration, but hey I'm not a doctor. Long story short, I continued up until May of this year and at that point both of my shoulders started acting up. I decided that was it, I need time to heal (hopefully).
While also at Muscles, training for the meat, I was pushing the pull really hard. I wanted a 600 pull at the meet. Week 2 of my mesocycle pulled 525x5. Next week came in and couldn't pull shit. Next day, back felt like I got run over by a Jeep Grand Cherokee full of sorority girls (without any of the nice extra curriculars they often times provide while intoxicated). Couldn't pull or squat without pain for months. Saw the doctor again. Gave me a cortisone shot. Nothing...X-ray...everything looks good! MRI...degenerative disc and slight bulge. Great. Now I have two bum shoulders and a crap back. Went to PT, did nothing. They were clueless. Told them to piss off.
Fine, move on and train whatever you can....errr which is like nothing basically. Move to Orange County California (woohoo!). 3rd week in the state, I wake up with massive pain in my wrist. WTF? Maybe I beat it too hard or something. Next day, same thing. NSAIDs barely took the edge off....hmmm. Now I'm waking up with both hurting. Next both my shoulders are on fire all day long as well as my hip and ankles. I try eliminating starches, diary, peanuts. Add more fish oil, etc etc. Nothing changes. I let this continue for months. I see the doctor. He tests me for autoimmune shit. No dice. Sends me to rheumatologist, more tests. Still nothing conclusive. Sends me to hemotologist. More bloodwork. She wants to give me a bone marrow biopsy. No thanks bitch, let's repeat the tests. Takes bloodwork again and they come back normal. Thanks a lot... C U Next Tuesday! Back to rheumatologist. Claims I have autoimmune arthritis, wants to put me on chemo drugs. No thanks bitch. Get a new doctor....I have my appointment next Friday.
So, what have we learned? Well, a few things I guess. Don't be an idiot (as Igor posted) and take care of the things you need to take care of to prevent stupid injuries. Don't buy into all the powerlifting bullshit about how you should eat like a slob and be a fucking waste of space. No, get your shit together, condition, stretch, etc etc and lift heavy! More importantly, everyone has a bitchy ass sob story about why they can't get to the gym and why it's soooooo fucking hard. Everyone has their excuses. Guess what? They all suck! I suggest you read the article on elite about the guy with lupus (an autoimmune arthritis) that trains. He was on his death bed, but he had no excuses. So sack up, train smart, and SFW!
I'll steal one from Brian Schwabb:
Never give up,
M
