I'm always impatient with recovery (or anyone telling me I can't do something) but I'm trying hard to control my natural impulses as I get back to lifting weights. Last Monday, we did deadlifts and, since I hadn't done any since before surgery, we kept the weights low. We started with 45 lbs and worked up to 65. Even though that felt light, we left it there. We'll be doing more on Saturday, but 75 will be the limit.
That same Monday, we did some benching. I had done 35 a few weeks ago so we started at 20 and worked up. It felt pretty easy until we got to the final set. It was still doable but harder than I expected. That's when I discovered my trainer had loaded 45 instead of 40 which I'd planned as my max.
I had a slight "burning" sensation at the front of the shoulder for about 3 days (but then went away). May have just been DOMS or something similar and may be the bicep adjusting to having one branch doing all of the work. I did talk to the trainer, though, about not wanting to go up more than 5 lbs from max the time before so that I can gauge how things are going. My plan is to only go up 5 a time with bench and only is I'm doing the prior Max effortlessly. I have unlimited (kind of) time to get where I want and more likely to get there if I don't push it. I'll bench again next on Saturday and we'll back off and plan to not go above 40 this time.
I also did squats this past Saturday. We did just the safety bar (doesn't go straight across the back and is designed for people with shoulder issues) which is 75 lb. It didn't feel heavy carrying it, but we lowered the squat so below parallel for the first time since surgery - definitely harder on the legs. We don't do those again for another week but we'll try 85 and may try some with the regular barbell at 45 with fewer reps before setting the bar down to see how that feels.
It's hard to get very much done right now. I'm still waiting for my home gym to arrive (probably in the next 6-8 weeks) but I don't feel comfortable from a COVID standpoint going into a regular gym since you don't have to wear a mask while exercising. Since I only get to the trainer about once week, we only get to each of the major lifts every 2 weeks. The home gym will, however, have safety bars to prevent a repeat performance with my shoulder!
Patience is NOT my middle name (nor is Grace).
That same Monday, we did some benching. I had done 35 a few weeks ago so we started at 20 and worked up. It felt pretty easy until we got to the final set. It was still doable but harder than I expected. That's when I discovered my trainer had loaded 45 instead of 40 which I'd planned as my max.
I had a slight "burning" sensation at the front of the shoulder for about 3 days (but then went away). May have just been DOMS or something similar and may be the bicep adjusting to having one branch doing all of the work. I did talk to the trainer, though, about not wanting to go up more than 5 lbs from max the time before so that I can gauge how things are going. My plan is to only go up 5 a time with bench and only is I'm doing the prior Max effortlessly. I have unlimited (kind of) time to get where I want and more likely to get there if I don't push it. I'll bench again next on Saturday and we'll back off and plan to not go above 40 this time.
I also did squats this past Saturday. We did just the safety bar (doesn't go straight across the back and is designed for people with shoulder issues) which is 75 lb. It didn't feel heavy carrying it, but we lowered the squat so below parallel for the first time since surgery - definitely harder on the legs. We don't do those again for another week but we'll try 85 and may try some with the regular barbell at 45 with fewer reps before setting the bar down to see how that feels.
It's hard to get very much done right now. I'm still waiting for my home gym to arrive (probably in the next 6-8 weeks) but I don't feel comfortable from a COVID standpoint going into a regular gym since you don't have to wear a mask while exercising. Since I only get to the trainer about once week, we only get to each of the major lifts every 2 weeks. The home gym will, however, have safety bars to prevent a repeat performance with my shoulder!
Patience is NOT my middle name (nor is Grace).