16/06/2022
Story time. On June 15th, 2021, I ruptured my left biceps tendon while deadlifting. Two weeks later, they stitched me up and I spent the remainder of summer with my left arm in a cask. If you go back 2-3 posts in my feed, you can watch the set and the ensuing consequences.
Needless to say, it sucked. I could give two s**ts about the trivial effects on my physique, but weight training is a crucial part of my life. It's my livelihood, it keeps me grounded and it gives me goals to strive towards, etc. Seeing all that disappear wasn't fun.
By well-meaning people, I was told to lower my expectations, to settle for something less than what I once had.
Yesterday, June 15th, marked one year since the injury, and I'm happy to report that I'm stronger than ever.
To train around my injury, and to future-proof myself against it happening again, I've made the switch from a mixed grip to a hook grip. My training style hasn't changed much, if anything my training volume is even lower than before. After a few warm up sets, I do a single work set of 3-4 reps close to failure. Occasionally I do 2-3 work sets of 2-3 reps when I don't feel like pushing myself too hard.
What has changed besides simply switching grip? To gauge my performance, I make more use of indirect measures such as bar velocity. This is convenient because it lets me know what I can lift without having to lift it. And that's a good thing for someone like me who does not have a brake button. I'll just keep pulling 'till something gives.
In the video above you can see me lifting 300 kg x 4 followed by a chart showing the speed of the first and last repetition expressed in meters per second (m/s).
For comparison, I'm including the ill-fated set from exactly one year ago followed by the same chart.
The difference is small (+1-2 m/s) but it translates to a few more kilos. And after my injury, now in my 40s, I'll take that as a victory.
TLDR; don't settle for less and always be deadlifting. 💪
P.S. I have room for clients in case anyone wants to get ripped and strong. Details in my bio.
