ACHILLES TENDON COMPLETE RUPTURE & REPAIR CAN'T STOP ME

*WARNING* 

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS AGAINST ALL DOCTORS ORDERS

SERIOUS RE-INJURY AND PERMANENT DAMAGE MAY RESULT FROM FOLLOWING WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ

ANY AND EVERYBODY HAS TOLD ME I AM COMPLETELY CRAZY FOR THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTED ACTIONS

THIS IS IN NO WAY A GUIDE FOR CORRECTLY REHABBING AN INJURY

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING 

I have finally decided to go public with a recent serious injury I've had after getting to the point where I'm confident I will be making a full recovery in plenty of time for the events I've had planned for the 2014 season. Now that I know I have nothing to worry about, I think its time to share.....

I suffered a complete rupture of my right achilles tendon on 

Dec 20th, 2013. 

I really didn't want the news to get out because I didn't want my sponsors to worry about me being able to compete this year. Last year set some things up for me to have a really great 2014 and there is just too much on the line to take it easy. My first NPC Physique competition of the season is scheduled for March 15th and my first photo shoot for my new Muscle Club Apparel sponsor is the week after.

I honestly didn't even think for a second about pulling out though. I knew I had enough knowledge and experience to be able to work around this injury as I have others in the past even though my surgeon told me there would be a 6 month recovery period and that I should cancel my season.

I argued with him enough to piss him off I think,
LOL and I let him know nothing was going to stop me.

He proceded to tell me there was nothing I could do about it but to just accept the fact that I wouldn't be able to run, let alone compete. 

Nah bro!!! You don't know me very well!!!!!!!  Hahha

I decided I would write this blog for others to follow along with my progress.

I wanted to provide a real life example of what determination and dedication looks like and also as an inspiration for others dealing with other issues in similar situations.

I really wanted to show people that nothing can stop you.

Where there is a will there is a way!

Enjoy. I hope this serves to help someone in some way.

Dec 20th - DAY OF INJURY

WHAT HAPPENED??????

There was a burning building.....I could hear screams in my neighborhood and I could smell the fire as I was completing a 20 mile run around my neighborhood. I frantically searched for the  burning house and after sprinting towards the noise I could see someone in an upstairs window waving for help. I rammed the front door down with a few solid hits from my shoulder and raced into the burning building to save the two children upstairs before heading into the basement to save the babysitter. She was quite heavy and I tripped on a stair ..........OK...Ok....hahaha... JUST KIDDING!! :D I was told I needed to come up with a better story than what really happened! LOL

In actuality I was messing around with a dog. I went to juke it and fake it out as explosively as I could as it was going around a table and I went to one side way to hard and then *POP@! I heard the snap as I hit the ground. Damn that sucker hurt! I laid on the ground for a few minutes catching my breathe and wondering how bad I had just messed myself up. I finally stood up and went to take a step ....and beside the sharp pain the foot just felt really funny as if nothing was really there to support it. I knew right away I hurt my achilles really bad.

My friend got me some ice and tried to convince me to cancel our diner plans but I convinced her I was fine. We bought some crutches from Walgreens and then went to dinner to meet up with her friends, propping my foot up on the ice bag. :)

Things don't look too bad in this picture but I knew something was wrong. Here I am pointing out where the achilles severed. 

12/22

Of course I had to injure myself RIGHT before flying home for Christmas! Delta actually hooked me up though. As I was slowly limping to the check-in counter, one lady asked me if I needed a wheelchair. I guess there was no hiding my gangster swagger! LOL

I was all ready to take my sweet time hobbling to the gate but I decided to take her up on it! They took my bags for me and wheeled me to my gate, going to front of every line. VIP Baby!! They even let me keep one of my shoes on!! Wow! To top it off, they let me board first and gave me all 3 seats to myself. I was actually comfortable and slept the whole way. DELTA ROCKS! 

12/23

My Dad arranged for me to see a friend of his at the hospital who performs surgeries for professional athletes in the area. It didn't take him long to cancel the MRI and confirm that I had completely severed my achilles tendon. I knew it! He advised me to have it surgically repaired immediately. I let him know I had a competition as early as March that I was not going to miss. He told me that would be impossible and to cancel the season. I told him I would send him a picture of myself from the stage! :D 

12/26
Actually doesn't look too bad...

1/2 

SURGERY

I don't get into politics. I feel its a waste of time. However, I do think I love Obama right about now!
I cancelled my health insurance years ago thinking it was a waste of money and here I am needing some serious work done. My father sent me to the government website to enroll and in a few minutes I was on my way to full coverage! :) Not a single question was asked about pre-existing conditions! Nice! I had to enroll in the most expensive plan available but in the end I will be saving money and will be covered 100% after these deductibles are met. I applied a few days after Christmas and was told I would be active January 1st! I went in for surgery on the 2nd!!!!! Talk about about cutting it close! I was a little nervous it wasn't going to come in time and would be stuck with the full bill, but I took my chances and booked the surgery as soon as I could anyway, knowing that I could be out of pocket. Wheeeeeew!

1/5

I knew I wouldn't be able to just sit around and let things atrophy. I went in today and lifted legs! I found the perfect machine to allow me to hit my glutes, the rotary hip machine! YESS!!! I am still in this! I was able to go as heavy as I wanted on that machine and took it very very light on everything else.

Leg Ext

20/15/10

Rotary Hip 

15/12/10

Partial Rack RDL superset w/ Leg Press

20/15/12

1/8
Here is where that warning kicks in!

1/18 

I decided to venture out to the mall today with no boot. Had to be extra careful to walk slow but made it through a few hours of walking around. It did became very painful in the heel area and I really looked forward to putting my foot up, but overall I think it was good for me to start stretching somewhat and begin to resume normal walking.

I intend to be walking pain free in a month from now, pretty much by my birthday. 

I take that back....I ended up getting of myself hitting a heavy bag. 

I stepped on my foot wrong and probably tugged on the internal sutchures enough to tear slightly. It's been hurting pretty bad since then and I just hope I didn't compromise the surgery.

That taught me a lesson! Put the boot back on before doing anything strenuous!!! :O

1/21

I decided the stitches have been in too long and it almost seemed like my skin was healing over one. Not good! Soooo.....I decided to take them out! LOL 
I found a pair of scissors and managed to pry one out without too much blood. It did hurt. After 20 minutes of internet searches for "home removal of surgical stitches without tool," I think I'm going to let the pros handle this. Hahahah

1/22 (almost 3 weeks post surgery)

Went to the doctor today and had his assistant remove the stitches with the tool. Ahhhhhhh MUCH BETTER! Most didn't even hurt at all. A few did, but nothing like my home removal job! I actually went to a walk in clinic instead of seeing my surgeon's office to make it quicker and I assume I saved some money too. Not sure. Also not sure if 3 weeks was too soon, but hey it sure seemed like it.

1/23

No boot at all. Took stiches out yesterday.

Started "rehab" at the gym today.

Did 4 sets x 20 of seated calf presses with 20 then 40 pounds being very careful on the negative.

I'm happy to say I think I'm on my way! I went the entire day without the boot. I'm still walking slow and with a limp. The tendon feels very tight still but not as much as yesterday. I am going to predict I am able to jog in 2 weeks! :) We shall see....

Rehab Day 1 (3 weeks post surgery)

I have also been using an electronic muscle stimulator to help speed my recovery and help prevent atrophy in my calf muscles while I am unable to workout like I used to. 

This is the RX-8000 unit I received from StimRx.com.

1/24

Today walking seemed quite a bit easier. I am moving much quicker now with little to no pain as long as I take my time and watch my step. Very encouraging! I hope to be using the elliptical in a week or less. :D

1/25

Yeah didn't need a week! Tried it out this morning and ended up doing 45 min with no pain at all! I even had the resistance up to 12. I just kept the incline down and I was good. It's going down!!!!

PM

Leg Press 8 plates x 20 / 4 sets

2/2/2014

It's definitely getting stronger but I have to be careful. I'm glad I'm not letting myself atrophy in the cast or boot but I have to be ever vigilant.

Legs 

Deadlifts 225 x 15/15/15

Flyes x 15

Squats 135 x 15/15/15

3/1/14

After a few set backs with having to move furniture to a new house, my leg is finally feeling well enough to walk on again with no brace.

Stationary bike felt almost painless so I think for the next 3 weeks while I prep for my photo shoot, that is the way for me.

Men's Physique V-Taper Workout

As you have probably been aware of, the Men's Physique division is exploding.

In the past if you were competitive, chances are you were a competitive bodybuilder.

Now a days there are many more NPC competitors around, largely due to the addition of the Men's Physique category which allows for a more natural looking, seemingly more attainable body.

One of the best things to keep in mind in training for physique is to aim for that V-Taper look.

A tiny waist and wide shoulders give this almost cartoon illusion.

Getting that waist to shrink is going to take some work in the kitchen but I have designed a few workouts for building on other key areas.

For me, my goal is to bring up my upper chest, lats, and create the biggest shoulders as possible. 

I'll share one workout with you guys now.

I haven't started my cutting diet or cardio routines yet so I'm still in muscle building mode, pushing some heavy weights around with amble rest between sets. 

(~2-3 minutes between heaviest sets)

Incline Press

*start off with these so you are fresh and able to handle some heavy weight to really build some muscle. Do a few light high rep sets first, taking your time to stretch at the bottom of the rep to warm up. After a few warm up sets go right into some heavy 8/6/3 rep sets. 

Wide Grip Cable Bent Row

* Grab an incline bench and lean forward into the bench with your knees on the seat or your feet on the legs of the bench. Pull the bar to your sternum, flexing your lats and other back muscles hard with a 2 second squeeze at the top. Again, go heavy enough where 3-5 reps is about all you can get with good form. I like the cable because I'm able to keep constant tension on the muscle the entire rep.

Cable Cross Overs

*Go a little lighter on these so you can get in the 10-12 rep range and as your pulling the cables into a fly, cross one hand over the other just slightly, switching which hand is on top each rep. Focus focus focus on feeling your chest pump up and keep your chest high and shoulders back so your are not wearing your front delts out before anything else.

When you can no longer cross them, do a few more regular flyes, slowly going to failure.

**I like performing burnout pushup sets immediately following my last few sets of flyes.

Dumbbell Upright Row

*I prefer dumbbells so I can really pull the weights high and wide away from each other and focus more on the medial delts. You can try these one at a time as well to allow for heavier sets.

Reverse Fly

*This is the one exercise I intend to hammer very hard this season to really stand apart with big shoulders. Give a slight bend in the elbows and pull back until you feel the contraction and squeeze. Make sure you sit up tall and are not leaning forward or tucking your head low. 

Wide Grip Lat Bar Cable Pullovers

*Position an incline bench at a cable station so that if you were sitting on it, you would be facing away from the weight stack. Grab the bar at the widest part and while seated at a little steeper than a 45 degree angle, lock your arms straight and pull the bar down, focusing on and squeezing the lats hard at the bottom.

Thomas Murphy, CSCS, Pn1

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