My Journey Through a Distal Bicep Tear
My Journey through a Distal Bicep Tear
My first direct message after my bicep tear: “congrats on finally becoming a strongman!”. Yes, it’s a fairly common injury. Not only that, I tore it the least cool way to tear a bicep; on a damn tire flip. I remember the sound like it was yesterday... the first flip, I hear a what sounds like a zipper in my arm. I pick up the tire to flip again and… POP, POP, POP. I heard the typical gunshot in the arm sound and shriveled to the floor.
Everything was going great. I had just won nationals, broken the national record on the axle, and was wrapping up my master’s degree. My strength was peaking, and I was the most competitive I had ever been.
Then, a tractor tire at a local show got me. Going into warm ups, my bicep felt strange. It didn’t feel, for lack of a better phrase, all there. My friends warned me not to go and zero the event. My ego didn’t let me take a zero. Some of us call it the “warrior spirit”. Other, more intelligent folk, call it “being a dumbass and ignoring all common sense”.
My first stage was denial. “Eh, maybe it’s not torn. I can still press and kind of move my arm!”. Yeah, that’s called lying to yourself. I was even considering dropping my appointment with the specialist. Fortunately, my family, friends, and girlfriend (now fiancé) wouldn’t let me.
Really, my ego was hurt. I didn’t want to admit I had made serious mistakes in training the past couple months and had ignored the signs of a breakdown. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, it was torn.
The First Steps
You will go see a specialist. Mine was fantastic. Most of the time, they can tell right away if a bicep is torn. In my case, my bicep had mostly stayed in the same location (displacement of > 1 cm) and the swelling and discoloration had gone away. Regardless, the specialist will have you go get an MRI. And before you say they are trying to steal your money, remember… they need to see what they are trying to fix!
Soon enough, the report came back… Full distal bicep tendon tear. Surgery recommended.
In hindsight, there are about 40 million worse things that can happen to you, either as an athlete or a human. Selfishly, I could only consider my own circumstances, and at the time was the biggest tragedy since the day the Hatfield squat was invented.
So, I wallowed in my misery. And I pouted. And I talked about quitting. Luckily, I have a great friend who adequately called me out on my nonsense. All in all, my sorry ass stage only lasted roughly a week. I lucked out. Sometimes it pays off to have great friends. But to say those days waiting for surgery don’t suck would be a lie… Every day I thought about how I was getting weaker, and every day I got deeper and deeper into my own mind. Would I be able to return? Would I ever be able to get back to my old level of strength? Was it time to try a different hobby?
Surgery
Surgery was a blast. I’ve never had more restful sleep. One second, I have a two-inch needle poking into my neck to numb the left side of my body. The next, I’m in a soft cast crawling into my mom’s mustang asking if we could stop for a Reign energy drink on the way home.
Your hands not going to move for two days. That numbing agent is no joke. They wrote a prescription for Oxy, but the pain was never bad enough to need it. I stuck to good ole fashioned ibuprofen.
Post-surgery was the best I had felt since the injury. I no longer felt hopeless. I felt like at the very least, I was able to get back in the game! I started plotting my return, and even started eyeballing the small amount of shows that were already posted 6 to 7 months out.
The Return to the Gym
I’ll be honest… I wasn’t good. I was itching to get back to it, and while under my parent’s care would sneak out to the garage and do single arm dumbbell rows, presses, and bodyweight squats. I’d do enough reps to get a pump then hustle back inside.
My first OFFICIAL day back to the gym was a week after. I walked in, wearing my soft cast of shame that I felt screamed “you’re a complete failure”, and meandered over to the leg press.
Ironically, the next 8 weeks of training were the most productive training days I had ever programmed.
Physical Therapy; Do it, but be sure to do your Research!
I was fortunate. The gym I was training at (and still visit quite frequently!) has the best PT in the state. She was adaptive to my needs and understood the desire to continue to compete. She catered to my needs, monitored my progress, and adapted my PT program based on my current level of mobility and strength (shout out to Kate at EVOLVE PT in Tucson!).
This is not the case at all PT clinics. The first place I had called (this place was recommended following surgery) and spoke with told me the following:
- It would take 2 years for a full recovery.
- I shouldn’t return to strongman.
- My program would be 12 weeks of passive stretching, 6 weeks of stretching, and a final 6 weeks of basically 5-pound curls.
This was clearly a basic program designed for the typical out of shape 40-year-old man. Safe to say I wasn’t pleased, so I quickly returned to my gym and signed up for physical therapy with an individual I trusted.
The Cold, Honest, Truth
Here’s the reality… When you tear a bicep, you are only really injuring a small part of your person. There is so much you can still do, and do intelligently, without reinjuring the tendon.
I had to be really, really honest with myself. Since switching to strongman, what has been single compound lift you have put to the side for so long?
SQUAT
So, I began to program for copious amounts of rigorous leg work. I knew the first few weeks I would be extremely limited. Here is what I did…
Weeks 1-4
Day 1:
SSB Squats (5/3/1):
4x5
1x5+
SSB Good Mornings
3x15
Leg Press
4x15
Hamstring Curls
3x20
Day 2:
Single Arm DB Push Press
4x10
Side Raises
3x15
Machine Chest Press
3x15
Single Arm Skull crusher
3x12
Rope Pushdown
3x20
Day 3:
Spud Inc Deadlift Strap Deadlifts (5/3/1)
4x5
1x5+
Single Arm DB Row
3x15
Single Arm Machine Row
3x15
Single Arm Lat Pulldown
3x15
Day 4:
Pause SSB Squats
3x10-15 Reps
Single Arm DB Bench Press
4x10
Single Arm Curls
4x15
Spud Inc Strap RDL
3x10-15 Reps
Weeks 5-9
I started to get a bit bolder here… Yes, I was still careful, but I started to use that injured arm carefully and slowly.
Day 1
SSB Squats (Both Hands)
5/3/1 (Continued)
Deadlift
135x10 (No Spud Strap)
185x5 (No Spud Strap)
Machine Row (Both Arms)
3x10 LIGHT
Single Arm Rows (Uninjured Arm)
1x10 Heavier
Hamstring Curls
3x10-15
Day 2
Log Press
Week 5: 80x5x4
Week 6: 120x5x4
Week 7: 150x5x4
Week 8: 190x5x4
Single Arm Press (Both Arms)
3x10 LIGHT
Single Arm Press (Uninjured Arm)
1x10 Heavy
Pushdowns (Both Arms)
3x10 LIGHT
Pushdown (Uninjured Arm)
1x10 Heavier
Machine Chest Press (Both Arms)
LIGHT
Day 3:
Spud Inc Deadlift
5/3/1 (Continued)
RDLS (no strap)
185x10x3
RDLS (strap)
2x10 Heavier
Pause Squat
5x5
Barbell Row
135x10x3
Day 4:
Farmers Carry
Week 5: 135
Week 6: 170
Week 7: 205
Week 8: 225
Yoke Walk (60 Feet)
4 sets
Press Out of the Rack
Week 5: 45x10x3
Week 6: 95x10x3
Week 7: 135x10x3
Week 8: 165x10x3
Sandbag Pick
Week 5: 50 pounds
Week 6: 50 pounds
Week 7: 80 pounds
Week 8: 100 pounds
Weeks 9-12
Day 1:
SSB Squats
5/3/1 Continued
RDL, No Spud
3x10-15
Machine Rows
3x10
Lat Pulldown
3x10
Day 2:
Log Press
Week 9: 240x3x5
Week 10: 265x3x5
Week 11: 280x3x5
Week 12: 300x3
Spoto Press
3x10-15
Machine Press
3x10-15
Pushdowns
3x20
Day 3:
Deadlift, No Straps
Week 9: 315x5
Week 10: 365x5
Week 11: 405x5
Week 12: 455x5
Spud Inc Deadlift
5/3/1
Pause Squats
5x5
Day 4:
Farmers
Heavier
3 sets
Yoke
3 sets
Sandbag
Week 9: 150x3x5
Week 10: 200x3x5
Week 11: 225x3x5
Week 12: 265x3x5
Push Press
5/3/1
The Take Away
Injuries are a part of the sport. Rolling over and accepting a decline in strength is not the answer. Figure out what you can do, and break through that brick wall! The most significant challenge will be the mental game. Control that first, then get to work on figuring out what you can accomplish during your recovery.
Injuries are an opportunity to improve your weaknesses. Ironically, after my injury, my strength on strongman lifts ballooned. The longest lifts to recover were stones and sandbags. I am now 11 months post operation, and I just PR’d my stone at 395 pounds to 50 inches and my sandbags are moving better than ever.
My first competition back was chosen carefully; one without bicep intensive movements. I competed at Odd’s show in July (7 months post op), then continued to compete at a show ran by the Power Sloth’s in Flagstaff two weeks later, Arizona’s strongest man the following month, SC nationals in October, and most recently the axle record breaker event ran by Michael Carrol in Phoenix.
Long story short; there are ways to still improve. Accept the challenge and get better!
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