I’ve been fortunate enough to stay healthy and injury free for most of my 25 years+ in this lifting game. But when it rains, it pours, and 8 weeks ago, I had surgery for my third muscle rupture in 5 years. Snapped my left biceps in ’21 trying to deadlift 300 kg x 6. My right quadriceps went in late ’24 while jumping off an electric scooter. This year it was my left quadriceps’ turn to snap in another stupid accident.
Being injured sucks and the impact on training progression is dramatic. Before every incident, I was on top of my game, and I’ve had to dive deep to deal with this mentally, you can be assured of that. Once you get past the basics, once you have everything figured out, there is that one stumbling block that no one is safe from.
However, I choose to look at pain and setbacks as opportunities for change and learning. You can take the hardship you endured and transform it into something good. That was what drove the creation of this website, its many articles and novelties, from RPT to the intermittent fasting diet that everyone knows by now. You can find enlightenment in suffering; and if you can then use your newfound knowledge to ease the suffering of other people, it will have been worth it. Young people would call that a cope. Fine, I don’t mind.
Once injured, you need to do everything to get back in the saddle, back to lifting. And I know a thing or two that can help you do that much faster than anyone else. Now, I don’t have a good reference frame for what constitutes a good healing rate. But in every instance, and especially the last two involving my legs, the orthopedics have expressed astonishment. One of them said it was the fastest healing he’d seen in 25 years of practice. The second one was young, he took notes while I explained to him what I did.
What is my secret? Before I tell you, I need to put in the usual disclaimer about me not being qualified to give out medical advice. Apply what I say at your own peril. And remember that this particular pearl of wisdom applies to muscle ruptures only, not broken bones.
If you want to heal a muscle rupture fast, do not wear medical devices that lock the limb into a fixed position. To treat a muscle rupture, It is standard procedure to wear a cast two weeks post-surgery. The cast is then removed and replaced by a brace which you are supposed to wear for 6 weeks before your leg is freed.
My secret is that I take that shit off when I come home and then I never wear it again. You see, I did the research. There is not a single study that supports wearing a brace. Common sense and even science itself recognizes that an immobile limb heals slow and atrophies. The reason you must wear a brace has to do with the fact that most people are not in touch with their body or its limits. They give you a brace because they don’t trust that you are able to self-regulate the stress and tension you put on your healing limb. For that reason, medical devices is a billion dollar industry. Hundreds of billions of dollars in fact.
The proof is in the pudding. I had my first deadlift session a few days ago. Did 180 kg x 8 which felt nice and easy. That would have been impossible if my leg was locked in a brace up until that point.
P.S. There is one more thing I must address. I have something called Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder. It essentially means that my circadian rhythm is longer than 24 hours. By extension it also causes problems unless you manage it well. Reality becomes slippery and you start to imagine things. On March 20th, I made some stupid and nonsensical posts on IG and Facebook. None of it was true. But disappearing for 3 months following the incident certainly didn’t help to quell the rumours and questions from my followers. That being said, I’m thankful for everyone who messaged and wondered if I was okay.
