How about sometimes things just suck and you have to move on.
Everything, both good and bad, will eventually come to end. Sometimes you can prepare for this inevitable conclusion, sometimes you can’t.
After years of my right shoulder bothering me, which has become more noticeable after starting to train heavier again, I finally went to an Orthopedic surgeon a couple weeks ago. It’s to a point where I feel my bones grinding together at the bottom of every bench rep. This is accompanied by a lot of discomfort and a significant loss of strength. I was honestly hoping for an injury that could potentially be repaired. Instead they did X-rays and said I have severe bone on bone glenohumeral arthritis and loss of cartilage. He said there was nothing they could do other than shoulder replacement years down the road if I can’t do basic functions. I inquired about hyaluronic acid and he said the FDA has approved it for use on knees but not shoulders.
After all of the autoimmune issues I’ve had (which may have caused more joint damage to my shoulder since it randomly attacks healthy tissue and I’ve had a lot of joint pain associated with it) my squat and deadlift have been improving and I was hoping to compete in the WPO meet in November (and appreciate the invite), but I can’t do it if one of the three lifts isn’t there. I was also hoping that shirting up would help support my shoulder, but it actually made it worse since it compresses the joint more.
I started lifting in my freshman year in high school in 1988 and was on the Wrestling and Weightlifting team. I continued lifting after high school and my first Powerlifting meet was in 1995. I’ve competed in over 60 meets, broke numerous records including the all time equipped 148 total 3 times, competed at a top level raw, single ply and multi-ply, became an Elitefts sponsored Powerlifter, made many friends, opened and still own a Powerlifting gym, held and continue to hold numerous meets and fundraisers each year, wrote and helped direct a Bench Press program and DVD, documented, designed and wrote my own training program which worked for over 20 years for me to make steady progression without serious injury, coached numerous Powerlifters including many Special Olympians, designed my own Powerlifting equipment, and much more.
Powerlifting is as much, if not more, a part of my life than most lifters. It always will be, but everything ends at some point. It seems that my competitive years may have come to an end. I’m not going to write some sappy retirement post (although this kind of sounds like one). Although, like I said, Powerlifting is a huge part of my life, it doesn’t define me, nor is it something I feel it’s necessary to retire from. I’m still planning to look into PRP and/or stem cell therapy, but it’s not covered by insurance and can be very expensive. This may get me to a point where I can compete again, but there are no promises. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve competed and I’ve already modified my training to deal with my shoulder so this doesn’t change much, other than the fact that I’d like to have the potential to compete again. Elitefts Teammate Eric Maroscher recommended I try reverse grip benching, which did reduce the stress on my shoulder, but I don’t have very good wrist mobility and I felt like there was a good chance I could dump the bar on my face at any second. Either way, I still plan to incorporate it. If any of you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears, but there’s a pretty good chance I’ve already tried it.
I’ll still keep my log updated with how my clients, athletes and training partners are doing, with how I’ve modified my routine to maintain my strength while dealing with the shoulder issue, and with updates on my products (I still have a new one coming out soon which should be beneficial to all lifters). I also plan to incorporate an exercise of the month where I’ll describe how to properly perform a variety of exercises.
As always, thank you for reading and following me on the ups and downs of Powerlifting and life. The journey’s not over, the path has just changed.