Shoulder

It’s been a year since I suffered a Grade 3 AC separation in my left shoulder - 3 ligaments in the AC joint were completely torn, never to return.

It put me out of the gym for about 5 weeks, and the shoulder remained weak for a long time. Looking back through my training log I can see that it took about 5 months for my strength to return for most lifts.

It has now been 2 months since my shoulder injury (a grade 3 AC joint separation).

I am pleased with the progress that I’ve made to date, but was expecting the pain to have subsided more than it has.

The Good
I can now do 15 pushups. My squat and deadlift are back to their pre-injury weights, and my bent-over row is improving. Last week I was able to pick up my 35 lb pre-schooler for the first time.

This morning I did my first weights workout since my Grade 3 AC joint separation 5 weeks ago. I didn’t push it hard, the point was to start building some strength slowly while trying to avoid further injury. Most of the weights were around my previous warmup levels. i.e. around 60%.

I was focusing on my legs and back, so the exercises were: Squats, bent-over rows, seated rows, deadlift, incline press. I tried doing some lat pulldowns but there was way too much movement in the AC joint for my comfort. I was surprised I was able to deadlift at all but it was quite comfortable. The rowing exercises required the most concentration to keep the joint stable, as did the incline press.

One month after suffering a grade 3 AC joint separation I am definitely on the road to recovery, but still a long way short of back to “normal”.

I’ve been doing my resistance-band exercises plus the Plank exercise each day for a few weeks now and the strength is slowly returning. I haven’t gone back to the gym yet but I think I’m only a few days away.

Tonight I was able to do a few push-ups which made me feel really good. I have been able to do 15 “countertop” push-ups for about a week, but I have to do most push actions extremely slowly to control any movement in the AC joint, and by slowly I mean 5 seconds up, 5 seconds down.

On December 4, three weeks after getting hit by a car, I ran the Las Vegas half-marathon in 1:44:11.

I was very nervous about how my shoulder would hold up, but it was ok. I had to run with my left elbow held tightly against my ribs to limit movement in the AC joint, and as soon as the race was over I headed to the medical tent for an ice pack to prevent excessive swelling.

On November 14, 2011 I was hit by a car while cycling to work. My performance in the collision resembled that of a Hollywood stuntman in his prime - airborne, crashed onto the hood, airborne again, slammed into a parked car, and finally came to rest on the road. The result was a grade 3 AC separation in my shoulder.

I was wearing a helmet which now bears a 2-inch crack, but at least that crack was in the helmet and not in my skull.