Don't laugh until you hear me out.
First, I need to report that after a really bad week, this week has been much better. I am back to having very little pain and I seem to be progressing. However, even without the pain being as severe, there is a lot of damage to the knee.
I had an MRI and the results were read as:
1. mild sprain to the LCL
2. 2 articular cartilage lesions—lateral and medial. This has caused water in my knee. The damaged or missing cartilage is the reason for the pain.
The LCL is progressing well but isn't 100%, yet. The cartilage issues are the main problem.
Obviously, I am not training legs and haven't for 2 months. Even when the knee recovers, training may irritate it and I may continue to have to deal with knee pain. Everything is up in the air right now, and this brings me to the point of this coach log.
The issues surrounding my partially torn gluteus medius last year was depressing enough but now with the knee issue, I am really struggling with all of it. You can say that "things happen and deal with it" and "you will get through it" and other blah-blah-blah, but the reality is that I don't have decades of good, healthy training to look forward to. I have years—maybe ten, maybe 15, or maybe 1; I just can't know for sure. So, when things like these sidetrack me, it bothers me quite a bit considering my "career" has not been riddled with injuries. In fact, I have dealt more with injuries in the last 12 months than at any point in the 37 years I have trained.
With all of that being said, I can't know how long I may not be able to train legs OR if I might eventually be screwed and not be able to train legs 100%, any more. I understand that I don't yet know, so I am certainly not rushing to judgment as much as I am looking at my options and trying to find some light at the end of the tunnel.
My thoughts right now are that IF I can't train legs for an extended period of time, I may take on a new challenge because just training upper body and trying to grow or stay in shape is just not doing it for me. I need something new or challenging and the next thing I say might seem a bit "out there" but I have been throwing this idea around for most of the last couple of months while dealing with this knee issue:
I have CONSIDERED taking this opportunity and doing something that most people would say I can't do and/or doing something most would say I wouldn't be able to pull off successfully. I am considering revamping my physique and either getting into absurd condition for men's physique or possibly even competing in that division to say that I did it. Obviously, I would not do this if I didn't think I could pull it off.
Obviously, it would take time and it would be a bitch to do and do well. However, I do believe that my midsection can be streamlined considerably because the main reason my midsection isn't streamlined is due more to eating than it is my genetic structure. If any of you have seen pictures from my earlier years of competing, my hips and waist were actually very small and streamlined. Yes, I was younger, but I also feel that I could make huge changes to my overall look if I were to be able to commit to doing this. And that brings me to my next part of the challenge.
The psychological shift would be the most difficult. To actually shift my brain from size to streamlining my physique—bringing my waist down as small as possible, and changing my focus from size to balancing out muscle groups to fit the physique division (masters mind you), would be the most difficult part of this challenge.
Eating less? No problem. I eat for size. I am not inherently a "hungry" person. I do enjoy good food, but I don't enjoy it enough that it keeps me from getting into great condition for bodybuilding so I don't see it getting in the way of getting into condition for a different division. The biggest obstacle would be that I need to not just get lean but to force the food VOLUME down, as well, to allow my midsection (and stomach) to shrink.
I would also focus on changing my training because I don't need to acquire more muscle as much as I need to reshape and change the "balance" of the muscle that I have.
Of course, if I still have knee issues that would keep me from training legs, I would also not be doing cardio. And before you laugh, anyone who has paid any attention to what I did last year, I did zero cardio while cutting and was in incredibly condition at roughly 5-6 weeks out when I injured myself. I see no reason why I couldn't get into excellent condition again but instead of bodybuilding, for physique.
Plus, let's be honest for a minute:
I love to prove people wrong and I love a good challenge. I know there will be PLENTY of people who think I will not be able to pull this off. Even those who won't say it will still THINK it. I like that. Plus, it would also prove that I have the ability to completely revamp an "old" bodybuilding physique into a radically different look in a relatively short amount of time. I think I could do it this year, if that is what I decide to do.
I have not made any decisions, yet. I am waiting to see how my knee responds because if I can get back to training legs soon, I will of course, stay with my current plan and wanting to get back to training the hell out of my legs. I'm a bodybuilder and always will be. I'm just saying that I could go this other route to keep my focus and competitive fires burning and see what I can prove to myself and if I can even pull this off.
There is nothing more motivating to me than doing something that I am unsure whether I can do or not. It will only help if others think I can't pull it off, too. So, tell me how stupid I am, please. I need that motivation.
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Simply having a new and novel goal for yourself will outweigh the comments and critiques from the guys living with their parents, who are unwilling to improve their own lives so derive a meager sense of value by criticizing others.
The excitement and exhilaration of any new challenge creates a sense of meaning and you'll likely inspire others who were considering their own change-of-pace.